Assassin
by DeanneYunFarron
Summary: She had been wandering for five years, no destination in mind and regret in her heart. Now, with a chance encounter, will she have a new reason to continue on and let go of the self-torment she raged on herself?
1. Savior

**Author's Note: Hey guys. I've recently been on a Resident Evil fix, don't ask me why. And even more so, I've been on an Alice/Claire fix. So, I'm gonna write a story about them. Please enjoy, and leave reviews, as they make me happy. And I'd always love feedback on how I'm doing.**

**P.S. This story will take place during the Extinction and Afterlife time period, and maybe beyond that. I'll be tweaking things, it won't follow the movies exactly. A few major things will be the same, but most will not, so bear with me :D**

* * *

**Chapter One: Savior**

* * *

Five years it had been. Five years since Umbrella released the T-virus into the world. Five years since the world had gone to shit.

To say life was fucked up now would be an understatement.

She had no semblance of an idea as to where she was headed. With an unsalveagable motorcycle lying in a dusty grave at the site of her last rest stop, she was stuck to wander on foot in one general direction in the lifting darkness.

Not that she was tired. With her inhuman abilities, she'd be hard-pressed to find something that actually exhausted her.

Maybe if she'd taken action sooner, the world wouldn't be as it was now: desolate and unforgiving. Maybe if she'd tried harder to reveal Umbrella's atrocities, the dead would stay dead.

So many regrets.

Maybe if she'd ran faster, she wouldn't have been captured. Maybe if she'd resisted, they woudn't have experimented on her. Maybe if she'd fought harder, Jill and Angie wouldn't be dead by her hand.

So many decisions that should've been.

As her body ran on autopilot, putting one foot in front of the other, her mind wandered far from the sweltering heat.

* * *

She couldn't sleep, regardless of how tired she was.

She gazed up at the slowly rising sun. She remembered when sunrises were breathtaking sights, when the first rays of light would catch the droplets of dew on the grass and trees, making the vegatation twinkle.

Now, the sunrise only reminded her of what awaited them out in the apocalyptic world they now inhabited.

Undead zombies fighting one another for first dibs on your brain matter, Umbrella lackeys who committed horrendous acts to save themselves, and the crazies who were driven even farther from their already fragile states of mind by the carnage around them.

She wasn't thinking for herself, though. She was thinking of every single life she'd entrusted to herself. Every life she had sworn to protect.

She was a leader. That much was certain.

How much longer that would apply, however, she didn't know.

Every new day brought new dangers. She remembered when the number of survivors far outweighed the number of dead. Now, it was the other way around. She had already lost over half of her survivors in a time period of five years.

There are those that would say she's done a fantastic job. The fact that she still had almost forty survivors in her care should be reason enough to celebrate. She knew that was total bullshit.

How could she pretend she was doing great when there were over thirty unmarked graves littering the path they'd traveled?

* * *

The sun was being unmerciful, like it always was in the desert. That didn't slow her down. She didn't need to. Still, it annoyed her that the sun thought it deserved to beat down its now unwelcome rays when everything wasn't as it was supposed to be.

The sun should've realized how much of a privelege it was now to be alive, without adding to the discomfort of those still fighting tooth and nail. Figures, though. Nature had always been one to disregard the intrusion of humans. Maybe it was part of their punishment.

Part of her punishment for allowing things to get like they are.

Squawking sounded up above her, but she ignored it. Birds were a commonplace around hot, mostly unpopulated areas.

The dead that decayed there were easy pickings.

* * *

She looked up at the sky, hearing the piercing calls and the fluttering of wings from above. It was a massive cloud of squirming black shapes.

"Shit!" she cursed and practically threw herself back into the yellow Hummer. Her teenage companion looked at her with fearful eyes.

"Claire? What's going on?"

"Shh! Stay down and keep quiet!" she shushed the younger woman, than grabbed her walkie-talkie and spoke quickly and quietly.

"Carlos?"

"_Yeah?" _His reply was hushed.

"Make sure you stay down and don't make any noise."

"_Way ahead of you."_

She switched frequencies, so the others could hear. "Everyone? Stay calm, and don't make a sound."

"_You got it, girl."_

"_Roger that, Claire."_

Both Betty's and Chase's voices were rushed, eager to cut off any sound in fear of the birds attacking.

Claire turned to K-Mart. The girl was scared, yet she held herself determined. Claire felt a rush of pride go through her; the teen had come a long way since she'd found her all those years ago. She placed a hand on the blonde, attempting to show her that everything would be okay.

A bird than fluttered down, landing on the hood of the Hummer. It looked around, and Claire could see its tiny chest beating erratically.

"What's wrong with their eyes?" K-Mart whispered.

Claire looked closer; the eyes of the bird were enlarged and veiny, parts of muscle bulging out. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "They've been feeding on infected flesh."

The bird suddenly reared up, squawking loudly. It rose and rejoined the pulsing mass in the sky, and as a unit, each dived toward the school bus.

"Damnit!" Claire cried. She jumped out of the car, donning her Glock. She shot wildly into the mass, taking care not to hit the windows of the bus.

"Carlos!" she yelled into her walkie-talkie. "We need to get them out of there!"

* * *

The squawking was now deafeningly loud; she could not ignore it any longer. They must have found something. She looked off to where the cloud had gathered.

Could it be survivors?

She was running now; no more time could be spared. If there were survivors, she could save them.

She could barely make out the yellow of the school bus underneath the swarming mass of infected crows.

There was a man trying to burn them out of the sky, but he was quickly overrun, and the flame was spinning wildly out of control. Wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't headed straight for a pair of survivors.

She squared herself and focused intently. The flame stopped just in time, coiling around the two like a snake. Satisfied, she took a deep breath, than turned her gaze into the blue above.

The flames expanded exponentially, covering the sky in a roaring inferno. She could hear the dying cries of the crows as they were incinerated.

She took another deep breath, willing the flames to dissipate before she lost control. Succeeding, she stumbled back a few steps, feeling her world crawling away. Staggering forward, she felt strong arms pull her into an embrace and she clutched to them like a lifeline as her consciousness ebbed away.

* * *

Her eyelids snapped open, and immediately an arm was shot out to cover her face from the bright rays of the sun. She surveyed her arm; she didn't remember a brown bracelet being there before.

She heard a soft breath and quickly turned, discovering a blonde teen sitting in a chair a few feet away.

They watched one another for a few seconds. "Hi." The teen spoke up shyly.

She smiled. "Hey." She indicated her wrist. "This belong to you?"

The teen nodded. "I gave it to you last night. For luck."

She smiled wider. "Thank you." She sat up, her head throbbing slightly. She willed the pain away. "What's your name?"

"K-Mart." The teen said with a touch of pride.

Her confusion must have shown in her face, because the teen chuckled softly. "It's where they found me. Claire and the others. I figured, the world was turning to shit and everyone I knew was dead, so it was time for a change."

She smiled again. "As good as any, I'm sure."

"So, what's your name?"

She stuck out a hand. "Alice."

The blonde shook it, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Alice." She stood, stretching slightly. "Come outside? I think the others will want to meet the woman who saved their lives."

Alice didn't agree with the teen's words, but she nontheless followed her out the door.

* * *

"Anyone want to say anything?" Claire asked.

No one spoke up. She figured as much. With seven dead, the reality of what just transpired hit them like a brick in the face.

LJ stumbled forward, and knelt at Betty's cross, soft sobs wracking his body.

Claire wanted to look away from the grief, but didn't. They both deserved better than that.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to Carlos, who beckoned her forward, pointing at the woman who'd just joined their midst.

Claire nodded slightly and went to place a consoling hand on LJ's arm, trying to ignore the tears washing away the dirt as they rolled down his face.

She approached the woman with Carlos. The woman smiled warmly at Carlos, recognition gracing her features. The smile dropped as soon as she looked at Claire, sorrow and regret taking its place.

"Alice, this is Claire Redfield. She's the leader of this convoy." Carlos said.

Claire held out a hand and Alice grasped it strongly. Claire shuddered at the shiver that ran through her body at their touching, but shoved it deep down. "Thanks so much for your help."

Alice simply nodded slightly, the regret seeming to deepen.

"Claire!" She heard K-Mart calling, and the teen was gesturing to LJ, who had simply slumped over Betty's grave, his cries of grief no longer quiet.

She turned back to Alice. "I'm sorry, but there are things I have to attend to."

Alice nodded again, the regret becoming a black hole in her chest. "Of course."

Claire departed, leaving her and Carlos. She looked up at him, words being unable to describe the euphoria she felt at finding him alive.

They began to walk in silence, until Carlos spoke up. "What happened to you, Alice? Where did you go?"

She paused. "It wasn't safe for anyone for me to be around. So I left. The less people I came into contact with, the better. I'm dangerous, and I still am."

Carlos shook his head. "You saved a lot of lives today, Alice."

She looked up at him, not answering. He smiled at her gaze and gathered her into a hug. She returned it, tears welling up at being reunited with a good friend thought long dead. "I'm just glad you're here, Alice."

They broke apart, and she wiped at her eyes. "I'm glad, too."

* * *

"Got a minute?"

Alice broke out of her reverie to find Claire standing nearby, her Aviators hanging from her top. She nodded.

"I just wanted to say, I'm extremely grateful, and I know the others are too, for saving us." Claire started.

Alice sighed. She knew what was coming; she had expected it, due to her showcasing her powers. She waited for Claire to send her off.

"And I know that the others are apprehensive about your…abilities, but they'll come around. They're a good bunch."

Alice gaped at her. "You're not asking me to leave?"

Claire frowned. "Why would I? I'd look like a terrible leader if I sent our savior packing, wouldn't I?"

At the mention of 'savior', Alice matched Claire's frown with an even deeper one, glaring at the ground. "I'm not a savior."

Claire cocked an eyebrow. "Of course you are. You saved a lot of lives."

Alice looked at her, her gaze hard. "I didn't save them all."

For the first time, Claire took a long look at the woman in front of her. The wild dirty blonde hair, the white undershirt, the brown button-up and torn leggings, the tan overcoat, the green scarf that doubled as a hood, the two pistols strapped to her legs, the curved blades strapped to her back.

That wasn't what intrigued her though. It was the way she held herself, the look in her eyes. This was a woman who had been through hell and back, probably more than once. Yet, she still strived to help others. Claire could see the dam of regret holding back an overflow of pent-up emotions.

Claire placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, Alice's gaze softening at the touch. "You can't save everyone, Alice."

"Why not?" Alice looked down again. "I was given these powers for a reason. Why shouldn't I be able to save everyone?"

"Because that's not how life works. No matter how many you save, people will die. It's natural. Yeah, it sucks. But, think about it. You did far more today than we could have even dreamed to do. That counts for something."

Alice nodded slowly, letting Claire's words seep in. "Maybe."

Claire smiled in spite of herself. She knew she should be on alert around the older woman, given what she could do, but that wasn't the case.

She felt strangely at ease around Alice. Something about the blonde drew her in, gave her comfort.

Alice silently reached out a hand and ever so lightly brushed the pads of her fingers across Claire's cheek. As soon as the contact was felt, it was over. "Thanks." And then she was gone.

Claire watched her walk away, her cheek still burning slightly from the feeling of Alice's skin on her own.

* * *

**A/N: I will cut it off right about here. I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. Send me some reviews about what you thought. I know this followed the movie pretty stiffly, but do not fret, my children. It will deviate as the time goes on. I thought the intro between Alice and Claire was pretty damn good, so I didn't feel inclined to change it. Anyhow, hope you guys have a great day.**

**P.S. The name of the story was inspired by Muse. I happened to be listening to that song while thinking about Resident Evil. I connected Alice's awesomeness to the name of the song and it kind of grew on me. Also, she'd make a kick ass assassin, don't ya think?**

**-DeanneYunFarron**


	2. Hunter and Gatherer

**Disclaimer: I just realized I hadn't done this last chapter, so here goes: I do not own the Resident Evil movie series, nor the games, nor the any of the characters, unless I decide to throw in an O.C. If I did own the movie series, Alice and Claire would be muuuuuch closer; ya'll pickin' up what I'm throwin' down? *wink, wink***

**Rating: M (for now, because of language and violence. Later though, there will be smexy times between certain characters)**

**Pairings: Alice/Claire, Jill/?, K-Mart/? (you guys will eventually find out who Jill and K-Mart will be with, probably around the same time I figure it out :D )**

**Alright. I think that's all that needs to be there for now. Please enjoy!**

**P.S. Oh, I almost forgot! Thank you very much to 2koe, crytotheocean, Kineticc, PhoenixFire DragonLight, Bonar, and LauraHime97 for the story faves and alerts! If you've got the time to do that, why not drop a review my way? Let me know what you like, what you'd like to see, that kind of thing. Please?**

**And to Remi: Thanks for the review! I wish I could give Alice a hug as well, maybe more? Heh, just kidding, she's all Claire's.**

**Here we go!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Hunter and Gatherer**

* * *

"So what do we do?" Claire leaned against the truck as she spoke. It had been a week since Alice joined them, and problems kept showing up one after another. Some vehicles had run out of fuel, they were almost ambushed by a crowd of undead, someone was sick, and on and on.

Carlos shrugged. "Don't know. We're low on food and supplies, and we've already ran through all the areas around here, picked them clean."

Claire sighed deeply. "I'm not gonna let everyone die of starvation."

"We're not dying of starvation, Claire." Carlos smiled. "Have a little optimism, would you?"

She shook her head. "I think you've got enough for the both of us, Olivera."

He smiled wider. "Can't help the fact I try to look on the bright side of things." His smile dropped as he looked around at the dejected faces of the remaining survivors. "With the shit we have to deal with every day, positivity is all I can fall back to."

Claire placed a concerned hand on his shoulder. "Whoa there, Carlos. It's not like you to be so morbid."

He blinked rapidly a few times. "Yeah, sorry. It gets hard sometimes, you know?"

She nodded. "No shit." She took off her baseball cap and ran a hand through her locks, replacing the hat. "We still have the issue of supplies, though. I'm not willing to risk any more survivors."

"Didn't say you had to." Carlos had a look in his eye, one that said he had an idea. "Wait here."

"Car-." He was already walking away. She shut her mouth and turned her head toward the sky, squinting into the bright rays. Wasn't like there was a better place to look, with the rolling desert surrounding them. At least the sky was blue today, and not coated in black.

She took off her cap again, running a thumb lovingly across the brim. This was all she had to remember her brother by. He had given her the hat on her sixteenth birthday, right before he had left to join S.T.A.R.S.

She would find him.

* * *

"Hi, Alice."

She looked up from sharpening her blades and smiled warmly at Carlos. "Hey." She laid the blades across her lap and looked at him intently.

He took a seat next to her. "Caring for those blades again, are you?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, they can never be too sharp."

"Where exactly did you find them?"

She cleared her throat. "In my travels." Carlos knew she wouldn't volunteer any more information. He took a deep breath, knowing exactly what he was about to do. Sighing deeply, he made sure to look out at the horizon sadly, seemingly deep in thought. He knew she would notice.

"Something wrong?"

He smiled inwardly; she was always so willing to help everyone else. "No, it's nothing."

Alice lightly cupped his cheek, turning his face toward her. "You know you can tell me anything, Carlos."

He sighed theatrically. "We're low on supplies and food. I don't think we even have enough for tonight."

She stayed silent for a moment. "Well, have you checked the immediate areas nearby?"

He nodded. "We've picked everything clean. I'm sure there's something farther out there, but…"

She nodded slowly. "I'll get it for you."

He internally high-fived himself, proud of his acting skills. "Are you sure? It'll probably be dangerous."

She grinned. "Since when has danger ever been an issue for me?"

"You should probably go tell Claire. I'm sure she'll be grateful."

"Okay." She turned to walk away, but stopped and gave him a half-hearted glare. "Next time, just ask, okay? It's not a problem."

He scratched his head, disappointed he was caught. "I didn't want you to think I was trying to take advantage of you." he said seriously.

She shook her head. "We're friends, Carlos. Friends help each other."

He smiled. "Of course we're friends. And, thanks."

* * *

"So, I hear you're running low on supplies." Claire turned at the sound of Alice's voice.

"What?" She narrowed her eyes. "Carlos told you, didn't he? That's what he was talking about. You don't have to."

Alice tilted her head slightly. "I want to."

"Ar-are you sure?" Claire faltered. "It's dangerous out there."

Alice grinned. "You and Carlos are such worrywarts. Danger isn't a problem for me. I've been running from Umbrella for over five years now. A few undead won't mean anything."

"Fine." She stepped closer to the blonde, trying to ignore the rush she felt at the close distance. "But if you get hurt, so help me, I'll kick your ass clear 'til Sunday."

Alice laughed. "Relax, Claire. I'll be fine."

"You say that now."

She gave the redhead a serious look, all humor forgotten. "And I mean it." She wrapped the scarf around her head, checked her weapons and ammo, and looked at the redhead again. "I should be be back by late tonight, early tomorrow." She began to head off in one general direction.

"Alice!" Claire called out. The blonde turned. "Be careful." Her voice was laced with concern.

Alice smiled. "I'm always careful."

* * *

Carlos hadn't been bullshitting when he said they had salvaged everything from the nearby areas. Every place she passed, she double-checked, just in case, but they were bone-dry.

She had been walking for at least ten miles before she spotted a hazy mass in the distance. She shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand, and in the welcome shade, she could discern the hazy blob as a small building of some sort. She'd find out soon enough; it looked to be about close to her current position.

Twelve minutes later, she was standing in front of her target, which turned out to be an abandoned restaurant/house. Why anyone would be operating out in the middle of the Nevada desert was beyond her; maybe when the world was still normal, there was a lot of business. Now, it was just another decrepit, sad looking structure, a ghost of its glory days.

Her blood was beginning to sing; there were infected inside. She smiled; it would be nice to take out some pent-up frustration on a few undead.

She unsheathed her blades; she preferred the curved kukri to her guns. There was something satisfying about killing the infected up close and personal, instead of from a distance.

She approached the house and stuck an ear to the door. The muffled groaning she could make out confirmed the presence of undead, and it sounded like there were only a few.

She kicked open the door, its wooden frame splintering pathetically upon contact. Immediately, she ran inside, toward the nearest infected and quickly separated its head from its shoulders. By the time the decapitated body hit the floor, she had already taken out three others with quick, precise cuts to the throat. She could feel the swing of one aiming at her head and she ducked, stabbing it through the forearm, followed by a stab to the chest. For good measure, she impaled it through the head as well.

Looking around, she noticed the room she was in was now devoid of anything. She headed into the kitchen, which seemed to double as the serving area and her eyes lit up.

On the counters, there was a stockpile of food. She opened up cabinets and found even more, along with supplies like matches, candles, flashlights, blankets, a few compasses, and a radio. She even found a pack of cigarettes and pocketed them, intending to present them as a gift to Claire. She knew the redhead had ran out a couple days ago and was clearly suffering withdrawals.

She walked toward a door she figured led into the garage and wasn't surprised to find it lacking any vehicles. She surveyed the area; there were a couple first aid kits stacked in a corner, as well as what looked like a small armory.

She knew she wouldn't be able to take everything back in one trip, so she took a sheet of wood she found, as well as a tarp and rope, and placed as much food as she could onto it, covered it with the tarp, then tied the rope around it.

She opened the garage door and pulled the food outside. Looking up, she saw the sun was slowly starting to drop from the sky; she probably had a couple of hours until dark. She started the trek back to the convoy.

* * *

"Claire, you need to relax." Carlos tried for the umpteenth time.

Claire halted in her pacing and glared at him. "She's still not back and it's almost midnight. What if something happened?"

Carlos chuckled, beginning to understand just what was happening between the two women. "She's fine, Red. You're worrying too much."

Claire just rolled her eyes and continued to pace, her mind torturing her with images of what could be happening to Alice right now.

"Guys?" K-Mart approached them, rubbing her eyes and yawning softly. "Where's Alice? Has she come back yet?"

Claire paused again and gave Carlos a triumphant smile. "See? I'm not the only one who's worried."

Carlos shook his head. Women!

An infinity later, actually about ten minutes, Alice returned, dragging something with a tarp on top behind her.

Claire rushed up to meet the blonde. "Are you alright? I was beginning to think something had happened."

Alice met her gaze, smiling softly. "Why so worried?"

Claire faltered, blushing slightly. Deciding to ignore the question, she instead peered over Alice's shoulder. "What's that?"

Alice smiled wider and untied the rope. Pulling off the tarp, she revealed the pile of food underneath. Claire's eyes widened. "Holy shit. Where did you find all this food?"

"About eleven miles out. And this is only some of it. There's more, along with supplies and weapons. I couldn't take everything, but I figured tomorrow we could take a truck out there and get the rest."

Claire nodded dumbly. "Yeah." She recovered, smiling at Alice. "Thank you. This will keep us fed for months to come."

Alice shrugged. "It was no problem."

Claire shook her head. Typical Alice. "Well, we should probably get some sleep." She indicated K-Mart, who was almost falling over. Gripping the girl by shoulders, she led her back to the Hummer, but not before sending another smile in Alice's direction, who returned it widely.

* * *

"Damn. This place looks like shit." Claire commented from the driver's seat.

They had taken the Hummer back to the abandoned house. With the windows down, they'd been able to make the trip relatively comfortable.

Alice, in the passenger seat, leaned forward, slightly brushing against Claire. She pointed at the open garage door. "The weapons are stashed through there, as well as some supplies."

"Seems like you found the jackpot." Carlos commented from the backseat.

Claire drove up a few feet away from the garage then backed it up, so the trunk would be more accessible. Getting out, she placed a hand on the arm of K-Mart. "Remember, you stick by me and do everything I tell you. Alright?"

K-Mart nodded. She had had to beg Claire to let her come along.

Alice was already walking inside with Carlos. "There are the weapons." She pointed at the rack. "And there are the survival kits." She indicated the pile in one corner. Claire and K-Mart joined them soon, and the four began piling things in the back. Alice took K-Mart into the kitchen and helped her bring out more food.

When the Hummer couldn't possibly hold anymore, they took a quick break. "I think we got it all." Claire said, wiping the sweat from her brow. She was pleased with their progress; the survivors would be set for a while.

"You know, I neglected to check upstairs." Alice said.

"Do you want to?" Carlos asked.

Alice nodded. "Yeah. Just in case."

The four trekked back into the house. Alice unsheathed her blades and took point. Her blood wasn't singing, so she thought it clear of undead, but one can never be too careful.

There were only a couple doors upstairs, probably bedrooms. She opened one carefully: a bathroom, with blood sprayed on one wall. An infected lay in the bathtub, a bullet between its eyes.

In another room, they found two people, two women. Probably married, based on the rings. The stench was horrific; their decaying bodies, plus the three undead strewn on the ground made for one disgusting cloud that filled their noses. Alice tried to look closer, but the shotgun blast that had killed them had taken off their faces. She could see that one was a brunette.

There was only one more room. Alice placed an ear to it and heard small whimpers. She signaled her friends to be quiet and softly opened the door. The broken window was making the curtain flutter, and in the light she spotted a little girl, probably no older than eight. The girl had a young man in her lap.

The little girl looked up and Alice was surprised to find green eyes much like her own staring at her. She also had red hair like Claire's, but darker. "Hi." Alice spoke gently.

"Hello." The girl spoke but also signed.

Alice furrowed her brows. "I think she's deaf."

The little girl nodded. "I can read lips." She spoke and signed.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked.

The girl shook her head and looked at the young man in her arms. "He tried to protect me…from those…things. They bit him, and then mama…mama…" She trailed off, fresh tears threatening to spill.

Alice shushed her. "You don't need to explain." She gently pulled the girl away from the young man, gathering her into a gentle hug. The little girl wrapped her small arms around Alice's neck.

When they pulled away, Alice signed to her, not really knowing how she knew sign language. "What's your name?"

"Becky." The little girl spelled it out.

"I'm Alice. This is Claire, Carlos and K-Mart." Alice spelled out their names in turn.

"It's nice to meet you." Becky spoke and signed.

Alice noticed Becky seemed to be favoring her left arm, and looked closer at her right one. "Becky, may I see your arm?"

Becky complied, stretching it out. Alice took it in her hands and gasped softly. On her tiny bicep, she could see the exposed flesh and muscle that came with being bitten by an infected.

Becky followed her eyes and smiled sadly, pulling her arm softly out of Alice's hands. "My brother bit me when he started to change."

Alice couldn't reply; she was filled with horror at what needed to be done.

She felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked up into Carlos' face. "Is she…?"

Alice nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. "She's infected."

K-Mart gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. "But she's so young! Isn't there a way?"

Alice shook her head. "We don't have any antivirus." She looked at the ground, her eyes starting to dampen.

Becky placed a hand on Alice's cheek. "It's okay." She signed. "You need to do what you have to."

Alice shook her head, one tear breaking free. "I can't."

Becky nodded. "You can, and you will." She pulled one of Alice's pistols out of its holster and held it out to her. "It's okay."

Alice turned to the others, her eyes shadowed. "Go wait outside. I'll be down, when I finish here."

Claire went to argue, intending to stay right by the blonde's side, but Alice stared her down. "Go. I'll be fine."

She hesitantly complied, K-Mart and Carlos in her wake.

Becky hugged Alice again, this time placing a gentle kiss on the older woman's cheek. "Go ahead. I'm okay. I can see mama and mom again. And Scott."

Alice took the gun from Becky and trained it on the young girl's forehead. Her tears were falling freely now, but she didn't try to stop them. "I'm so sorry, Becky." She signed to the girl.

Becky signed back. "It's okay, Alice. I'm free now." She closed her eyes.

Alice took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.

* * *

They heard the loud shot sound and K-Mart started sobbing right after. Claire took the teen in her arms and held her, her own tears threatening to spill over.

Alice came down a few minutes later, her face still stained with fresh tears. "Let's go." She said in a hollow voice, climbing into the passenger seat.

The ride back was silent, each person lost in their own thoughts. K-Mart was still sobbing in the backseat, and Carlos had wrapped an arm around her, his face solemn.

The survivors were happy about the new food and supplies, and no one could figure out why the returning members looked so dejected.

The four unloaded the Hummer and let the rest of the convoy fawn over the food. Claire and K-Mart went back into the Hummer, while Carlos went to his truck. Alice simply walked away from the convoy and sat on the ground, cleaning her weapons.

Darkness eventually fell, and Alice volunteered for first watch. She sat by the fire, staring into the crackling flames. She sat for hours, not really wishing to sleep, but she heard footsteps behind her. She had already memorized the sound of that person approaching.

Claire took a seat next to Alice and spoke softly. "You should go get some sleep, Alice. I'll take over watch."

"I don't really feel like sleeping. I don't think I could even if I tried." Alice replied.

Claire placed an hand on the blonde's arm, squeezing gently. "Go. It'll do you some good."

Alice sighed and complied, standing up. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, tossing them to Claire. Claire caught them and stared at them, then looked at Alice.

Alice gave her a tiny smile. "I found them back in the house. Figured you should have them."

Claire opened her mouth, and shut it again. "I…I…thank you."

Alice shrugged. "If it makes you happy." She walked into the darkness toward the Hummer, leaving the redhead behind with her thoughts.

* * *

**A/N: Second chapter, completed. And don't worry about poor Becky, she'll be back. Fret not. I wonder if any of you guys picked up on the hint I dropped on her appearance? Green eyes? Red hair? If you think about the Becky from Retribution, who she's suppposed to look like. That's all I'm telling you. Haha!**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. Please send some reviews my way. I'd really like to know how I'm doing, whether I should change anything or whatever.**

**P.P.S When I put quotations around Becky's dialogue, unless I stated she was talking as well, assume she was only signing.**


	3. Market Wisdom

**Disclaimer: We all know I don't own Resident Evil. Come on now, people. If I did, two certain characters would certainly be far more than friends.**

**Rating: M (still for now, because of language and violence and blah blah blah. The smexiness will be here in due time, my friends. Patience.)**

**Pairings: Alice/Claire, Jill/?, K-Mart/? (still haven't figured out who I'm pairing K-Mart and Jill with)**

**P.S. Thanks again for the reviews, my dear and awesome readers. You make my day. Although, there are still some people who faved my story and put it on their alerts who haven't reviewed. You should do that. I'd really like some feedback.**

**P.P.S To Remi: Poking people with a pitchfork is very uncool, my friend! Not to mention it would probably hurt. And Becky probably is who you think she's from, so I'd be glad to receive your hugs. You wouldn't want to let go, because I am one of the best huggers you will ever know. Thanks for the review, and I hope you love the update.**

**P.P.P.S To RainBlueWater: A 100 out of 100 to you for being an awesome reader/reviewer. Hope you like the update.**

**P.P.P.S. Thank you for the new people who faved/followed my story or me. Feel free to drop a review as well, let me know what you like, what you didn't, or just say hi. Sometimes I get lonely, ya know? :(**

**And so we are off.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Market Wisdom**

* * *

She didn't really know what it was. Maybe it was the constant lone wolf attitude the woman always emitted. Maybe it was the soft smiles that stealthily crept upon her face when she looked at the younger members of the convoy. Maybe it was her incredibly awesome prowess in battles.

K-Mart didn't really know if it was one single reason or a combination of some, or maybe it was all of them. Something about Alice made her gravitate toward the older blonde. Even though it had only been a couple of weeks, Alice had quickly taken K-Mart under her wing, acting like something of a surrogate sister.

Much like the way Claire treated her.

Yet…

"K-Mart! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Claire was stomping toward her and Alice.

K-Mart lowered her gun and looked innocently at Claire. "What do you mean?"

Claire narrowed her eyes. "You know damn straight what I mean!" She rounded on Alice. "What are you thinking, letting her play with guns?"

Alice opened her mouth to defend her actions, but the teen beat her to it. "Claire, I'm not _playing_ with them. Alice is teaching me how to be a better shot."

Claire shook her head, exasperated. "You don't need to learn to be a better shot. Let the adults worry about killing things."

K-Mart huffed indignantly. "I'll be an adult in a few months! Better I learn now than be unprepared!"

Claire went to argue again, but Alice shut her down. "She's got a point, Claire. We need as many people as we can to help fight the undead. She's ready." She gave K-Mart a proud smile. "Besides, she's a quick learner. Like a natural."

Claire pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine." She stepped close to Alice, jabbing a finger into the older woman's shoulder. "But if she gets hurt, so help me…"

Alice gently pried Claire's finger off. "You have my word, Claire. She won't come to harm."

Claire pulled her finger away. "You'd better hope so. For her sake as well as yours." She stalked off.

K-Mart gave Alice an appreciative glance. "Thanks."

Alice shrugged. "What for? I didn't lie. You are a natural." She watched Claire's retreating form. "She's just worried. And for good reason."

K-Mart smiled. "Well, good thing I have the best teacher in the world."

Alice smiled shyly. "I…thank you." She dropped the smile, taking on her role of the strict teacher. "Now, let's get back to it."

* * *

"Claire?"

The redhead looked up from the journal she was writing in. "What?"

Alice took a seat next to her. "I just…I wanted to make sure you weren't mad. About me teaching K-Mart."

Claire smiled softly. "No, I'm not mad." She closed the journal and met Alice's gaze. "I just worry, you know? She's been through a lot at such a young age, and sometimes I feel she's having to grow up too fast to accommodate this fucked up world."

Alice nodded slowly. "I know what you mean." Flashes of a small figure with dark red hair and pale green eyes filled her head.

"You're thinking about Becky, aren't you?"

Alice snapped back to reality to find Claire looking at her sadly. "What?"

"You were thinking about Becky. I can tell. Every time you do, you get this look on your face."

Alice looked down, embarrassed that Claire could read her so easily. "I was." She looked toward the sky. "She was something like K-Mart. Having to be so mature at such a young age. It's just hard to think that childhood innocence is pretty much a thing of the past."

Claire just sat in silence, having no response. She watched Alice closely, the blonde's green eyes filled with sorrow. "You blame yourself, don't you?"

Alice scoffed. "How could I not? I killed her."

Claire shook her head. "She asked you to."

Alice glared at the ground. "And? I could have said no. I was too weak."

"What could you have done? Waited until she turned? At least she died human, in a sense. Better that than having joined the ranks of the undead."

"She was a little girl."

"And you gave her something no one else could. You gave her peace. Didn't you see the way she looked at you? She trusted you implicitly. She knew you would do what was right. And you did."

Alice gave her an unreadable look. "By whose definition?"

Claire stared right back. "Hers. Mine."

Alice just frowned. Claire sighed. "Let me ask you this, Alice. What would've been your definition of what was right?"

Alice didn't respond.

Claire stood and wiped the sand from her pants. "I thought so." She nudged Alice with her knee. "If you'd been in her place, what would you have wanted her to do? End it there, while you still had some semblance of humanity? Or wait until your soul had been erased, leaving behind an empty shell?"

She walked away, Alice still glaring at the ground.

* * *

She ran the whetstone along the kukri again, taking solace in the sound of it. Her blades were already rather sharp, but she needed something to do with her hands.

What Claire had said bothered her. How could the redhead think that killing an eight-year old girl was right? Everything about that was completely and utterly wrong.

Wasn't it?

She heard rumbling up ahead, and turned her gaze to the sky. A helicopter?

She jumped to her feet, blades in each hand. It had to be Umbrella. They had finally found her. She knew she should have moved on days ago.

The helicopter simply flew right over her. She shielded her eyes and followed it. With her enhanced sight, she could see if fly many more miles than the naked eye. It disappeared over a hill at least fifty miles away. She sheathed her blades. She knew where she needed to go.

"Carlos."

He turned at the sound of his name. "What's up?"

She pointed at the hill in the distance. "We need to go there, now."

He cocked an eyebrow, trying to see what she could, but failing. "Why?"

"Didn't you hear the helicopter?"

He nodded. "It was an umbrella helicopter. I think they have a base somewhere in that direction. It's many miles away, but I know they're there."

He frowned. "Alice, Las Vegas is in that direction."

She nodded. "I know."

"Then you probably also know that we've been avoiding Las Vegas for a good reason. A place that was once that populated will be crawling with infected."

"I know." she responded again. "But Umbrella's there. This could be my chance to get some answers."

"Answers for what?"

"Questions that I have."

He sighed. "You'd better talk to Claire. I'll warn you now though, don't get your hopes up."

* * *

"No." she replied curtly.

"But…"

She cut off the older woman. "I said no."

"We need to go there."

"What part of 'no' didn't you understand?"

Alice groaned. "Claire, we have to. Umbrella is there, and they know that I'm here. They know about the convoy."

"And how does us walking right into their territory benefit us in any way?" Claire asked.

"I can get rid of them." Alice replied simply.

"Again, how does that help us?"

Alice sighed. "It doesn't." she answered honestly. "But isn't it better to get rid of Umbrella sooner than later?"

"So this is just part of some hellbent quest of revenge?" Claire countered with her own question.

Alice frowned. "It's not about revenge."

"Then what is it about?" Claire asked hotly.

Alice leveled her gaze. "It's about knowing what Umbrella has done. What they'll continue to do. It's about making sure no one else has to suffer for Umbrella's bid for power and control. So people don't have to keep dying. Like Betty. Or Becky." _Or Jill. Or Angie._

Alice stood, her decision made. "If you truly don't want to go, I won't make you. But I am."

Claire stood as well. "You can't go by yourself. That's suicide!"

Alice shrugged. "Maybe. But if I do die, I'm taking as much of Umbrella as I can with me. It's the least I can give."

Claire planted herself in Alice's path. "You're not going, Alice. I won't let you."

Alice smiled sadly. "Why so worried?" She took a step closer and reached out, running a hand softly along Claire's jawline. She dropped her hand, and pushed past Claire wordlessly.

The redhead followed her with her eyes, her mind at war.

* * *

"You can't go alone!" K-Mart cried. She'd heard from Claire about Alice's plan and had sought out the older blonde to protest loudly.

"K-Mart…"

"No! You can't just waltz in here and get everyone to care about you, than up and leave. That's not fair!" she shouted at Alice.

Alice just watched her tirade quietly.

K-Mart felt the tears welling up, but blinked them away. "I'll convince Claire to let the rest of us come with you, okay? Just…please don't leave. I've already lost enough."

Alice gathered the teen into a soft hug, feeling her tremble slightly. She released her and looked into her damp eyes. "I'll be waiting right here, okay?"

K-Mart nodded frantically. "Don't move!"

The teen found Claire inside the backseat of the Hummer, watching the night sky out the trunk windows. "Claire?"

The redhead shook her head. "I already know what you're gonna ask, and the answer is still no."

K-Mart huffed. "So you're just going to let her walk away, then?"

Claire shrugged. "I can't stop her, she said it herself. No one can."

K-Mart grabbed Claire by the shoulders and shook her. "Stop bullshitting, Claire! Out of all us, you're probably the only one who can! I know you care about her, more than you're willing to admit, and she feels the same! I'm not blind, you know!" She let go of Claire and brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "I see the looks you give her when you think she won't notice, and she does the exact same thing. Talk to her, please? If you don't, she'll leave. And you'll probably never see her again. You don't want that, I don't, and I know she doesn't. She needs us, Claire."

Claire had still been staring impassively out the window, but as K-Mart finished talking, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "You know, K, sometimes you're too damn smart for your own good."

K-Mart smiled brightly. "You're welcome." She opened the doors and gave Claire a slight push. "Go."

The redhead jumped out and shook her head at the teen. "I'll be back."

* * *

"Alice?"

The older woman didn't turn, but continued to walk the perimeter. Claire fell into step beside her. "K-Mart paid me a visit."

Alice chuckled. "Was she as loud as she was with me?"

Claire laughed. "Probably." She grew somber again. "She had a point, though." She stopped walking, and gently tugged Alice to face her, halting her as well. "You can't go alone."

Alice sighed. "You can't…"

"Stop you, I know. But I don't want to. I'm coming with you. We all are."

Alice's eyes widened slightly. "Really?"

Claire smiled. "Really. You said it yourself, better to stop Umbrella now than later."

Alice returned the smile. "Glad you can see things my way." she said sarcastically.

Claire punched her lightly in the shoulder. "Come on, we should get back. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Side-by-side, the two women returned to the fire. K-Mart jumped up at the sight, and ran to them. "Well?"

Claire smiled at her. "We're all going tomorrow."

"Yay!" K-Mart squealed. She wrapped an arm around both women and pulled them into a tight hug.

Claire returned the hug first. Alice was caught off guard, but eventually wrapped an arm around the teen as well. K-Mart let them go and skipped happily to the Hummer, no doubt to get rest for tomorrow.

Claire turned to Alice. "Good night, Alice."

Alice smiled. "Good night, Claire." She went to turn away, but Claire stopped her by grabbing her wrist. She turned back around and looked at the redhead, who met her gaze. Seconds passed, and Claire eventually dropped the blonde's wrist, but not before lightly grabbing Alice's face and pressing a soft kiss into her cheek.

She turned away quickly, not waiting for Alice's reaction. She opened the Hummer doors and found K-Mart smiling knowingly at her. "I saw that." the teen teased.

Claire lightly smacked her. "Go to sleep."

She turned back to close the doors and found Alice still standing there, staring at Claire. She smiled softly at the blonde, and the blonde returned it, adding a wink before turning around to continue walking the perimeter.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, there we go. Third chapter is donzo. I wanted to incorporate K-Mart more into this story, because she'll be playing a far bigger role than she did in the movies. Also, her character is fun to write. Hope you loved it, and see ya guys soon!**

**P.S. Seriously though, wasn't K-Mart totes bad-ass in this chapter? Am I right? Am I right?**

**-DeanneYunFarron**


	4. Old Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil movie series, or the games, or the characters. *sigh***

**Rating: M (for language and violence. Sexy comes later :D )**

**Pairings: Alice/Claire, Jill/?, K-Mart/? (You'll find out soon enough)**

**P.S. Only two reviews for the last chapter?! You guys are hurting my feelings. Seriously, I'm bleeding all over the place. Ah, well. Do try to make that up to me, hmm? Please? Not that I'm gonna hold the chapters hostage or anything, I'm not like that, but reviews do make me feel better. Ya know?**

**P.P.S. To Remi: K-Mart's tight! She could've played a much larger role in the movies, but alas, that is what beautiful FanFiction is for, no? Yes, yes, you should bow down to me! HAHAHAHAHAHA, just kidding. Or am I? No, I am. I hope you enjoy the update!**

**P.P.P.S. And so, we come to Chapter: The Fourth!**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Old Friends**

* * *

"So, what happens if Umbrella isn't there?"

Alice sighed. "They'll be there."

"But what if they aren't? What if we wasted fuel and resources and put my people in danger, only for Umbrella to be long gone? Or worse, never having been there in the first place?"

It wasn't like Claire to question so harshly. True, last night, after some careful persuasion, she'd been gung-ho to join Alice in taking down Umbrella. However, this morning, after they'd actually gotten underway, she'd started having second thoughts. And now, with each revolution of the tires bringing them closer to their destination, she'd been voicing her concerns in a most undesirable way.

Alice placed her hand lightly on Claire's. "I understand that you're worried and scared. It'll be alright, Claire."

The redhead scoffed. "Who said anything about being scared? I'm not scared," she said quickly.

Alice smiled and retracted her hand. "Of course not. Did I say scared? I meant utterly terrified."

Claire turned to glare at her, but Alice simply laughed. "Keep your eyes on the road, Redfield."

Claire rolled her eyes and looked in the rearview mirror, catching K-Mart's smug stare. She rolled her eyes again, and pressed on the gas harder than necessary. The Hummer jerked forward, throwing Alice and K-Mart back in their seats with audible grunts.

She grinned to herself.

* * *

"Whoa! What happened to Las Vegas?" K-Mart exclaimed lowly.

"Five years. With nothing keeping the sand back, the desert reclaimed it." Alice explained. "I'm actually surprised there's anything left."

_Claire? _Chase's voice crackled over the radio.

Claire put the walkie to her mouth. "Chase."

_LJ here says there's a gas station up ahead that we can use to refuel._

Claire nodded absently, her mind elsewhere. "Alright. We'll refuel, than find this Umbrella place. With any luck, we'll be on our way before nightfall."

Alice cocked an eyebrow. "Don't get your hopes up on that one. We don't know how many operatives are there."

Claire looked at her, not responding.

The gas station was about a mile up ahead. The vehicles of the convoy pulled to a stop, and Alice and Claire got out, followed by Carlos, Chase, and Mikey.

Claire went to inspect the gas station quickly. Deeming it usable, she rejoined the others as they started to gather around a large container.

"What is this?" Carlos asked.

Alice shook her head. "I'm not sure. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say Umbrella planted it here."

"Why?" Mikey wondered.

Alice gazed at him. "Because they knew we were coming."

"Well, should we move it?" Claire asked.

Alice shook her head. "No. We don't know what's inside."

"Well, let's find out." Carlos started forward, but Alice placed a hand on his chest. He looked at her quizzically.

"Let me." He nodded and backed up slightly.

She walked forward slowly, her brow furrowed as she focused. Her blood started to sing and she sighed. Would Umbrella ever make it easy?

She turned to the others. "There are Infected in there." She concentrated again, and frowned. "But they're not normal Infected. Something's…different. I've never felt this before."

Claire placed her hands on her hips. "Well, what do we do?"

Alice smiled humorlessly. "We're going to have to kill them eventually."

Claire shook her head. "Damn. And for once, I thought we'd get out high and dry."

Carlos chuckled. "No such luck, Red."

Alice unsheathed her blades. "Get everyone ready. When you're done, I'll open it up."

Claire nodded and set about getting a gun into every able hand.

K-Mart stepped up to her and looked at her expectantly.

"No," Claire said shortly. "Not on your life."

K-Mart rolled her eyes. "Claire! I can help. I didn't have Alice teach me because I wanted to sit in the back of the Hummer like a frightened little girl!"

Claire opened her mouth, but K-Mart plowed right through her. "Claire, I'm tired of being treated like a child. Now give me a gun!"

The younger girl's assertiveness stunned Claire into silence, and she handed the blonde a shotgun without a word. Regaining her wits, she gave K-Mart a cold stare. "Do not be reckless, you understand me? And if I tell you to run, damn it, you'd better run like your ass is on fire, got it?"

K-Mart smiled sweetly. "Thanks, Claire."

Claire rolled her eyes. Donning her own Glock, she walked back over to Alice, Carlos, Chase and Mikey. "Everyone's outfitted." She turned to Chase. "Chase, I need a lookout. Take down any from up above." Looking around, her eyes landed on a replica of the Eiffel Tower, half-buried in sand. She pointed. "Up there."

Chase followed her eyes and grunted. "Of course." Slinging his high-powered rifle over his shoulder, he walked over and began climbing the structure.

Claire waited until he was nestled comfortably, rifle at the ready. She turned to Alice and nodded.

Alice nodded in return. "Get ready." She jogged over to the container and jumped, landing gracefully on top. Sticking a blade through the slat between the opening and the rest of the container, she used the blade as a crowbar and the opening went crashing down. She jumped again and executed a perfect flip, neatly landing in front of the others.

"Show off," Carlos muttered.

Alice smirked, but stood at the ready, her blades held tightly by her sides.

A split second passed, and they heard the groaning and shuffling of feet. All too soon, a mob of Infected rushed out and charged toward the survivors.

Alice was off in a flash, swiftly decapitating two and impaling another pair through the chest. Carlos, with his semi-automatic, dropped a group of five in quick succession. Mikey took out a threesome with his pistol, and Claire dropped six more with her Glock.

Chase, from up on his perch, laid out several that had slipped past on a quest to devour those that had stayed back in the vehicles for safety.

Alice was moving through the throng like a blur, leaving a pile of dismembered undead in her wake. Unbeknowst to her, or anyone else, the Umbrella logo flickered softly in her pale green eyes.

* * *

"Well? Shut her down!"

The man's eyes were on the monitor in front of him, fingers furiously typing at the keyboard. "Just a few more moments, sir."

Dr. Isaacs ran a hand through his slicked back hair. Focusing on the screen as well, he took pride in the ease that Project Alice was cutting through his test subjects. "She's marvelous, isn't she?"

The guards posted at the entrance to the tent nodded. "She truly is, doctor."

The blonde woman next to him didn't say a word, but stared at the sceen in loathing. The doctor chuckled at her, than addressed the man at the computer once again.

"Are you ready?"

The man nodded, his fingers coming to a rest. "Just say the word."

Dr. Isaacs took a few more minutes to enjoy the bespectacle that was his finest project. Satisfied, he nodded at the man.

"Do it."

* * *

K-Mart had taken to using the driver door to the Hummer as cover, and picking off any undead she could see with the shotgun. This way, she could still help, but wasn't in the thick of things.

One particular undead slipped past Carlos and ran right at her. Squaring her shoulders, she cocked the gun and aimed right at its head. Squeezing the trigger, its head exploded in a spectacular shower of blood and brain matter, its body thumping to the ground.

She took a deep breath and willed the nausea away. Even though she was no stranger to blood and gore, it was still gross.

So enthralled was she in reflection, she failed to notice the undead sneaking up behind her. Hearing the groans, she turned a second too late and the infected fell on her, knocking her to the ground.

She cried out, keeping its mouth at bay in its desperate attempt to bite through her hand to get at her throat.

The undead was suddenly pulled off of her, and its head swiveled to bite at the forearm of her savior. Her hero let loose a string of curses, and he aimed his pistol at it, blowing its brains into the sand below.

K-Mart stared in horror at the dark-skinned arm, the bite wound leaking fresh blood.

LJ looked at her and smiled. "This is a damn fucking shame, ain't it?" He shot at the undead a few more times. "Motherfucking bitch!"

K-Mart hesitantly took a step back. "LJ…you've been bitten."

He looked at her incredulously. "No shit, K. Looks like it's the end for me, ain't it?"

K-Mart shook her head, disbelieving. "No! You saved me. You shouldn't have…"

LJ smiled consolingly. "It's cool, K-Mart. It was bound to happen eventually, right? At least I can say I died doing something worthy. My mama always said I wouldn't account to nothing." He turned his head skyward. "You hear that, you stupid bitch?! I did account to something! So fuck you!"

K-Mart just stood there, shaken, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into Claire's face. A little bloody, but the redhead was alright.

"What's wrong, K?" The older woman looked to LJ and immediately zeroed in on his arm. "LJ…"

The black man grinned. "Spare me the pity. Although, having two beautiful women such as yourselves crying over me might not be so bad…"

Claire smiled in spite of the dire situation. Ever the flirt, that LJ.

"Claire!" Carlos ran up and stopped as he took in the scene. "Oh, shit."

LJ shook his head. "Save it. Now, is one a ya'll gonna put me outta my misery?"

Claire nodded slowly. Steering K-Mart toward Carlos, she looked at the older man. "Get her out of here, Carlos."

Carlos nodded and placed a firm hand on the teen's shoulder. Before he could lead her away, she ran to LJ and wrapped him in a hug, burying her head into his shirt. "Thank you for saving me, LJ." Her words were muffled.

LJ chuckled and returned the hug. "No worries, little K. Keep safe, ya hear?"

She nodded and went back to Carlos, sending a final sad look at her friend.

LJ turned to Claire and spread his arms. "Make it quick and painless, Claire."

Claire raised her Glock with a shaking hand. Her eyes started to fill with tears, but she blinked them away. "LJ…I'm so sorry." She willed her hand to stop shaking and pulled the trigger.

She couldn't bring herself to look away as the shot went right between her friend's eyes, a burst of blood erupting out the back of his head. He slumped to the ground, his eyes closed and the ghost of a chuckle upon his face.

She stared at him, stumbling backward. Looking up, she let loose an agonized cry.

* * *

The cry reverberated through the tent. The man peered at the screen. "She's fighting control."

Dr. Isaacs chuckled. "I would expect no less." He turned to the blonde woman on his side. "Still nothing from you?"

She glared at him. He sighed. "You two are exactly the same."

He looked back at the screen, only to see textures moving past. "How did she…?"

The man shrugged frantically. "I…I don't know!"

"Get her back under control!" the doctor shouted.

The man's hands were working furiously again. "Almost…there…"

Dr. Isaacs looked closer. "Where is she going?" He saw the steps she was climbing, and a shiver of fear went through him. "Shut her down, now!"

The man grunted. "What the hell do you think I'm doing?"

He saw the steps give way to rooftop, and his fear went skyward. "Damn!" Turning to the flap of the tent, he saw the two guards go down, blood coating the entrance.

Alice turned her gun to them. The man at the computer swiveled in his chair. "Why you…!" He pulled out his pistol, but there was already a bullet in his forehead. He slumped to the ground, and Dr. Isaacs took off running, his charge at his side.

Alice followed them, seeing the doctor get into the same helicopter, but not before being bitten by one of his own creations. He struggled into the copter, leaving his companion on the rooftop as the helicopter flew away.

His companion turned.

Alice almost dropped her gun. "Jill?"

Jill smiled. "Hello, Project Alice."

Alice gaped at her, lost for words. "I…you…" She took notice of the red, spider-like device on Jill's chest.

Jill frowned. "Save it." She rushed at the older blonde, and Alice barely ducked the right hook, only to get slugged in the sternum. She gasped, and stumbled backward.

Jill was right behind her, sending a roundhouse kick at Alice's head, followed by two short jabs to the nose. Alice ducked the kick, and blocked the jabs. Going on the offensive, she uppercutted Jill in the jaw and swept her feet out from underneath her. Jill went crashing to the ground, but recovered quickly and rolled away.

Jumping back to her feet, she ran at Alice and succeeded in tackling the older woman to the ground. She attempted a chokehold, but Alice broke free and pinned her. She had a hand forcing Jill's face into the ground, while the other kept both of Jill's arms pinned behind her back.

"Jill, stop this! I don't want to hurt you!" Alice pleaded.

"Hurt me? You _killed _me!" Jill snarled. "And Angie! Or have you forgotten?"

Alice had not. Images of putting a bullet between the little girl's eyes and one into Jill's chest filled her head. Jill, sensing Alice's turmoil, took advantage and swiftly switched their positions. Straddling Alice, she had one foot pinning one of the older woman's arms, while using her weight to keep the other trapped beneath her body.

She reached into her ankle sheath and pulled out a sharp knife. She teasingly traced Alice's lips with it. "Such pretty lips you have, Alice. I can't believe there was a time when I actually loved to kiss them." She smirked seductively. "Or when you put them to…better use."

"Alice!" Jill turned to see a young blonde looking at them in horror. Turning back to Alice, she saw the look of fear on Alice's face.

"Oh, Alice. Making new friends, are we?" She grinned, and in a blur of motion, threw the knife at K-Mart.

K-Mart closed her eyes, waiting for the pain that never came. Opening her eyes, she saw the knife hovering in the air, two inches from her face.

She looked at Alice and saw the older blonde concentrating deeply, a rivulet of blood leaking from her nose onto her mouth and chin.

Jill noticed as well and pulled out another knife. Snarling, she thrust it downward into Alice's shoulder and it had the desired affect.

Alice cried out in shock and the knife clattered to the ground in front of K-Mart.

Jill twisted the knife harshly, enjoying every moment of it. Alice looked at her, sorrow in her eyes. Jill frowned and twisted the knife even more.

Alice was not in any pain; if anything, the knife was a mere annoyance. Using her legs, she attempted to throw Jill off, and succeeded. The other blonde rolled to her feet instantly, however. Alice pulled the knife from her shoulder and threw it into Jill's leg faster than the eye could see.

Jill gasped and went down again, her hand's clutching at her leg. She, unlike Alice, did feel it.

She looked up in her haze to see Alice standing over her, glaring. Alice cocked a fist and aimed it at Jill's temple. Jill's head collided with the concrete, and she was still.

Alice ran to K-Mart, checking the teen for injuries. Finding none, she sighed. K-Mart looked at Jill. "Is she…?"

Alice shook her head. "Unconscious."

K-Mart nodded. "Who is she?"

Alice faltered. "She's…an old acquaintance."

She heard footsteps, and looked up as the door to the roof crashed open, Claire and Carlos emerging.

The pair took in Alice, than K-Mart, and finally Jill. Claire's eyes widened, as did Carlos'. "Jill?"

Alice looked at her. "You know her?"

Claire nodded. "Yeah, she was my brother's partner before he transferred. What is she doing here?"

"She must have been under Umbrella's control." Alice answered.

Carlos frowned. "What's that on her chest?"

Alice shrugged. "It must be a mind-control device of some kind." She went to the blonde and pulled at the device, it coming loose with little resistance. She crushed it under her boot, it letting out a pathetic dying whine.

"So what do we do with her?" Carlos asked.

Alice shrugged again. "We wait."

* * *

**A/N: And there we go. I hope you liked. Stay tune for the update, whenever that'll be. Deuces!**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. Yes, Jill and Alice were in a relationship of sorts when they traveled together. Sexy, huh?**


	5. The Last Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil movie series, nor the games, nor the characters. But, ONE DAY!...nah, I won't. I suppose I'll just have to live with that, now won't I?**

**Rating: M (language and violence, yada yada. Sex will come. In due time.)**

**Pairings: Alice/Claire, Jill/?, K-Mart/?, former Alice/Jill (I added in the last one cause…well…cause I can. Point, blank, period. As for current Jill and K-Mart, still remains to be seen.)**

**P.S. Howdy do, my fellow FanFiction-ers? I hope you guys are having a great week, and that high spirits and raised glasses will continue into the weekend. I also hope you guys enjoy the update. Long overdue, eh?**

**P.P.S. To Remi: Why yu bee poking meh? Of course LJ was gonna die! The token black guy ALWAYS dies in movies/stories, especially the horror kind. What? Did I truly just use the 'black card'? I did, cause I am black, and it's allowed! Nah, I'm just messing with you. I killed off LJ because I wanted to show a little bit of what defines Claire's role as leader, besides the obvious stuff. I'm glad you liked the fight scene, there will be more where that came from.**

** P.S to the P.P.S. Honestly though, have you noticed how in the horror movies of today, there's always a token black guy, and he always dies? Kinda sad, huh? I realize I kinda sounded like a racist up there. My bad. I am not a racist, and will never be.**

** P.P.S. to the P.S. of the first P.P.S. Maybe LJ will be back…along with other dead people…hmm…it's a thought, no?**

**P.P.P.S. To ClairiceFan: You think my Alice/Claire storyline is great? Aw, thanks, dude. I think you're great. I'm glad you're liking da story. Hopefully you like this update.**

**And…..OFF WE GO!**

* * *

**Chapter Five: The Last Time**

* * *

She sighed heavily.

How in the hell did Jill get here? What was that device on her chest? How hard had Alice kicked her?

The questions chased each other around in her head, before she dumped them on their asses with a quick shake of her head. No use questioning what had happened. It went down the way that it did, and that was that. She couldn't change it.

All she could do was try to understand, and hope for a better future.

She watched Jill's chest rise and fall steadily. At least she had only been knocked unconscious. According to K-Mart's report, when she arrived on the rooftop, Jill had Alice pinned on the ground. She found that odd. She'd seen Alice fight. What had they done to Jill that put her on the same level as Alice?

She dropped her head in her hands and groaned. So many fucking questions. And no closer to any damn answers.

Her head snapped up when a soft hand clasped her shoulder. Looking into hazel eyes, she visibly relaxed. "Hey, K," she said softly.

K-Mart gave her a reassuring smile. "Why don't you take a break? I'll watch Jill for a while."

Claire shook her head. "No. We don't know if she'll still be hostile when she wakes up."

K-Mart sighed dramatically. "Claire, you're worrying too much. That thing on her chest was making her act that way. Besides, the one she's trying to kill is Alice, not us."

Her attempt at a joke rewarded her with a slight chuckle from the redhead.

Claire stood and stretched. She looked at K-Mart as seriously as she could. "Alright. But, you call me as soon as she wakes up." She handed the teen a radio. "I mean it, K-Mart."

K-Mart pushed her gently toward the door. "Sure. As soon as she wakes up."

Claire went to reprimand her for seemingly taking it so lightly, but K-Mart fixed her with a serious look of her own. "I promise, Claire. I'll tell you right away."

Claire smiled at the girl who'd become the younger sister she never had. She ruffled K-Mart's hair affectionately. "Love you, K."

K-Mart groaned at the childish treatment. "Yeah, yeah, love you too. Now go. Relax."

Claire nodded and left the teen.

* * *

While they'd been waiting for Jill to rejoin them, they'd taken shelter in an abandoned building about a half mile from where they'd fought the mutated undead. Claire wasn't all that happy about staying in Vegas for longer than necessary, but Alice had convinced her that it was the best plan for now.

Besides, with the recent attack, everyone needed a little R and R.

Claire looked down at her hands, which were hanging over her bent knees. The hands that had pulled the trigger that had taken LJ's life. The life of someone she had cherished as a friend. That idiot had tried to get into her pants at one time and another, but she always shot him down. He never resented her for it, simply ruffled her hair and laughed. 'Keep telling yourself that, gorgeous,' was what he would say.

She gave herself another shake and willed the memories away. The longer she thought about what used to be, the more the present hurt her.

She figured that eventually, she'd just become numb to the pain.

"You did what you had to, you know."

She didn't turn around, already knowing who it was.

The older woman took a seat next to the redhead, following her gaze toward the setting sun. They sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying the rare respite from the hell around them.

Alice eventually spoke up, accompanying her words with a light nudge. "You do know that, don't you? LJ knew what had to happen, and so did you. And you did what was best. For the convoy, for him."

Claire couldn't resist rolling her eyes and scoffing. She remembered all too well relaying the same words to Alice when the blonde put Becky out of her misery. "Quite a role reversal, don't you think? A few days ago, I was saying the same thing to you about Becky."

Alice stiffened. "That was…different."

Claire scoffed again. "How so? Because she was a child? It doesn't hurt any less, Alice."

Alice had lapsed into silence once again. Claire continued anyway. "None of us even knew Becky. LJ was my friend, to everyone in the convoy. He was your friend too at one point, if I recall."

Alice went to argue, but a crackling voice over Claire's radio stopped her.

"_Claire?"_ It was K-Mart.

Claire unhooked the radio from her belt. "What is it, K?"

"_It's Jill…she's waking up."_

Claire didn't even respond, simply got up and hurried back into the building, Alice on her heels.

* * *

Jill's eyelids struggled open, only to snap shut with the invading light from the overhanging bulb. After taking a few breaths, she willed her eyes open again, adapting pretty quickly to the change in lighting.

She heard a quick intake of breath and her eyes fell on three individuals. One she recognized instantaneously, so she directed her voice at her, ignoring the other two for now.

"Claire?" she rasped, and cleared her throat a couple times.

Claire tensed after hearing the caring voice of her friend thought long dead. "Hey."

Jill smiled slightly, than frowned. "Where am I?"

"Vegas."

Jill smiled again. "I hope we aren't gambling; if I remember right, you were terrible at it."

Claire shook her head. "No, we aren't gambling. And I was not terrible!" she added at the end with mock insult. She grew serious within a moment. "Jill, what do you remember?"

Now that Jill was able to think clearly, she remembered everything. The outbreak, Raccoon City, a certain blonde, being captured by Umbrella, them experimenting on her, Dr. Isaacs, being on the rooftop, Vegas…

Speaking of a certain blonde, her eyes alighted on the other two women in her presence. Immediately, she jumped up from the bed and tackled the older blonde to the floor, blocking out the cries of protest.

Alice simply looked up at her, sorrow in her eyes. Jill remembered that same look from the rooftop.

Claire placed a firm hand on Jill's shoulder. "Jill, stop!"

Jill shook her off forcefully. "No! This…_bitch_ is the reason Umbrella captured me! They tortured me, experimented on me!" She punched Alice square in the jaw, relishing in the sound of it. "She doesn't deserve to live after she killed me!"

Alice refused to fight back against Jill's tirade; the other woman deserved to harness this anger against her. She had earned it after being too weak.

Jill went to hit her again, but it was K-Mart who stopped her this time. "Please, Jill. Don't hurt her."

Jill paused and looked at the teen, then at Claire. "Who's this?"

"K-Mart."

Jill shot her a confused look. "K-Mart?"

Claire nodded, and K-Mart explained the significance. Alice took the brief distraction to shift her leg to a more comfortable position.

This alerted Jill, and reminded her exactly why Alice was underneath her. She glared down at the older blonde, ready to attack again, but remembered K-Mart's words and sighed in resignation. She reluctantly moved off of Alice and stood with her arms crossed.

Both Claire and K-Mart relaxed, Claire less so than the teen. "Thank you."

Jill just shook her head. "Don't."

Alice swiftly got to her feet, and looked at Jill sadly. "Jill…"

Jill shook her head again, her jaw clenched. "No. Don't speak. I don't give a fuck what you have to say."

The four women stood there for a while, Jill's face etched in anger, Claire's in annoyance, K-Mart's in curiosity, and Alice's in regret. K-Mart suddenly spoke up happily. "Wait! Jill, you remember Carlos, right? He's here, and I'll bet he'd be glad to see that you're awake! Come on!" She grabbed Jill's hand, drowning out the woman's protests with exclamations of how happy Carlos would be, introducing her to the convoy, and so on.

Claire felt a rush of pride at her younger sister's brilliance; to anyone else, it was simply the ignorant ramblings of a teenager, but Claire knew that K-Mart was getting Jill away from Alice, trying to relieve the tense situation.

She looked at Alice. The woman was still staring at the floor, lost in thought. She stepped closer. "Alice?"

The blonde looked up at the sound of her name, and Claire could see the struggle in the green eyes she was coming to love more as each day passed. "Are you…are you okay?" She mentally slapped herself at the stupid question. Of course Alice wasn't okay. To have her past thrown back in her face like that must be…Claire couldn't even put a word to it.

Alice smiled at the redhead's self-reprimanding. "I'm alright, Claire. Or I will be."

Claire didn't believe her. "Are you sure?"

Alice nodded. Sensing the redhead's disbelief, she offered up a wide grin. "It'll take some getting used to, but it'll be fine. I promise."

Claire could hear the sincerity in the blonde's words, so she relented. "Alright." She indicated the door. "We should probably get out there, figure out what's gonna happen next."

Alice nodded again. Claire went to go out first, but not before taking the blonde's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She gazed at the blonde, not needing words to convey what her eyes could.

No matter what happened, she would support Alice through this.

* * *

"So, Valentine."

Jill rolled her eyes. "So, Olivera."

Carlos smiled. "How you feeling?" He dropped the smile, looking serious. "Alice kicked you pretty hard."

Jill fidgeted. "Yeah, she can do that." She scratched her nose. "I'm okay, I guess. A little tired, but otherwise okay."

Carlos observed his friend. He knew about Alice and Jill's…intimacy…and he wondered how Jill was feeling about that right about now. He had seen the looks that Alice and Claire shared with one another as of late.

Jill noticed Carlos' gaze and frowned slightly. "What?"

Carlos shook out of his reverie. "Nothing. I'm just glad you're okay, you know?"

Jill smiled at his concern. "Thanks, Carlos."

He returned the smile, but it faded once he saw Alice and Claire approaching. The pair stopped in front of them, and Claire pinched the bridge of her nose. "Jill, we need to talk."

Jill shook her head. "I don't have anything to say to her."

Carlos was looking between the three women, utterly confused, and decided to voice it. "Wait, Jill. I know you're probably mad at Alice for leaving you, but she had a good reason."

Jill stared at him, realization dawning on her face. "She didn't tell you, did she?"

Carlos' confusion grew. "Tell me what?"

Jill laughed humorlessly and glared at Alice. "She killed me."

Carlos nearly jumped up. "What?"

"It was after Umbrella captured me, after you and LJ left. She killed me and Angie."

Carlos was up in arms. "What?" He looked at Alice. "Why?"

Alice looked down. "Umbrella. They took control of me with some kind of neural device. I couldn't control myself, no matter how hard I tried."

Carlos let out a breath. "Oh."

Jill nearly jumped him. "Oh?! That's all you have to say? She _killed _us, Carlos!"

He paled under the blonde's tirade. "Yeah, but Umbrella took control of her! It wasn't like she wanted to!"

Jill went to argue, but Claire cut her off. "It was like what they did with you, Jill. You couldn't control your body because of that device on your chest, right? Well, that neural thing they put in Alice had the same effect. You can't blame her for that."

Jill glared at her friend. "Oh, yes I can. And for more than that."

Claire glanced at Jill. "More than that?" She looked at Alice. "What does she mean, more than that?"

Alice frowned. "We used to…" She trailed off, not really knowing how to voice it.

Jill smiled darkly. "She and I used to fuck."

Claire's eyebrow disappeared into her hairline. "You two used to…have sex."

Jill nodded in confirmation. "Yeah." She glared at Alice. "Until she killed me, and left."

Alice looked down. "I'm sorry…"

Jill held up a hand. "Save it. I don't want to hear your bullshit. I may understand why you killed me, and Angie, but that doesn't mean I forgive you. And I sure as hell don't forgive you for playing with my feelings. Stringing me along like that was just cruel."

Alice snapped. She stomped over to Jill and hauled her up by the front of her shirt. Jill could see the dilation of Alice's pupils growing larger and smaller as the older woman fought to keep control of her anger. "Let's get one thing straight, Valentine," Alice snarled. "I did not, did _not_ fuck around with your feelings. You and I, what we had was pleasurable, yes, but don't pretend like it was anything more than physical. You said yourself it was all for fun, and that was it. Don't act like it was my decision to make it impersonal. It was yours." She dropped Jill back onto the ground and clenched her fists, willing the T-virus crawling under her skin to resist tearing Jill apart.

The others were in shock. None of them had ever seen Alice snap like that.

Alice took a deep breath and felt the anger inch away, regaining her senses. The feral nature of the T-virus could be a serious pain sometimes. She took one last hard look at Jill, turned around, and walked away.

Claire watched her leave and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Well, now that that's over, we should probably discuss what our next move is."

* * *

Darkness fell pretty quickly after that, and Alice volunteered for first watch once again. She was sharpening her blades by the fire. Sleep had decided to evade her again.

She heard the footsteps approaching from behind. "Something wrong, K?"

K giggled softly. "How'd you know it was me?"

Alice smiled. "I can smell you. Each of you has a distinct smell to me."

K-Mart took a seat next to the older woman, wrapping her arms around her knees. It was cold tonight. "You must have spent some time learning our smells then."

Alice blushed slightly. "Well…yeah. I mean, just so I'd always know where everyone was at." She noticed K-Mart's shivering and removed her tan overcoat, draping it over the teen. "No point in adding a cold to the rest of the shit we deal with."

K-Mart smiled to herself. That, and so much more, just proved how much Alice had come to care about them in a few short weeks. She grew solemn. "How are you, Alice?"

"Fine."

Alice's reply was rushed, and K-Mart resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm not stupid, Alice."

"I never said you were."

K-Mart let out an exasperated breath. "Okay! I'll just lapse into silence then, shall I?"

Alice looked at her for a few seconds. Then she laughed. "I doubt you'll be able to last long."

K-Mart huffed. "Mean."

"See?"

The teen shook her head. "Whatever."

A second set of footsteps was approaching. "K-Mart, shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I'm not tired."

Claire crossed her arms. "I'm not asking. Go back to the Hummer; you need your rest."

K-Mart did roll her eyes this time. "Yes, mom."

As K-Mart went past the Claire, Claire reached out and squeezed K-Mart's elbow briefly. "Thanks," she muttered.

K-Mart smiled innocently. "Of course."

The teen departed, leaving Claire to take her spot next to Alice.

"How are you?" Claire asked seriously.

"Fine."

Claire shook her head. "You can pull that shit with K-Mart, but not with me."

Alice sighed. "I don't know. Having Jill here, it brings up a lot of things that I had trained myself to no longer think about. I didn't even know Umbrella had resurrected her. She's infected too, but not at the level I'm at."

"What do you mean?"

"My blood bonded with the T-virus; her blood is fighting it. She still gets the strength enhancement, but not the powers."

Claire nodded slowly. "Hmm. And the little girl? Angie, was her name?"

Alice looked down. "I…don't know about her. They might've, they might not have. I honestly have no idea."

Claire placed a hand on Alice's arm. "You don't need to keep blaming yourself."

Alice looked at her sadly. "If not me, than who?"

Claire ignored the question, and decided to change the topic. "So, you and Jill? How'd that happen?"

Alice looked at the sky darkly. "When we were traveling together. Back in Detroit. There was a lot of sexual tension, and we acted upon it. I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about it in the beginning, but she made sure to tell me that it was nothing personal, just for fun. And that was that."

Claire smiled. "That sounds like Jill."

Alice looked at her curiously. "How did you two meet?"

"High school. We were friends starting in sophomore year, and continued through high school. After we graduated, we stayed friends and when she joined S.T.A.R.S., she was my brother, Chris', partner."

"Is your brother still alive?" Alice asked.

Claire frowned. "I don't know. I haven't stopped searching for him. I think he's still out there. He wasn't one to get killed so easily. I will find him." The last words trailed off into a determined whisper.

Alice placed her hand on top of Claire's. "I'm sure he's out there."

The two sat in a comfortable silence until Claire broke it. "So, did you have feelings for Jill?"

Alice furrowed her brow. "I did. I tried not to, but somehow she found a way in." She placed a hand on her chest for emphasis.

"And now?" Claire was trying desperately not to sound too interested.

Alice caught onto it, though, and laughed inwardly. She took Claire's hand and brought it to her mouth. She kissed it softly and gently intertwined Claire's fingers with her own. "Jill...doesn't have my heart anymore."

Claire's eyes widened after the indirect confession. Alice grinned at her reaction and dropped their hands. "You should go get some sleep, Claire. You need it."

Claire nodded dumbly. Regaining herself, she went to stand, but stopped and looked at Alice. The way the flames danced over the ivory skin made Alice look breathtakingly gorgeous. Without thinking too hard, lest she lose her nerve, she leaned in close to the older blonde.

Alice noticed just in time to feel Claire's lips on her own. She was caught off guard, but pressed back anyway.

The kiss was fleeting, but it was enough to cause tiny volcanoes to erupt all over Claire's skin. She pulled away and rested her forehead on Alice's, breathing deeply. She went back in and this time, parted her lips slightly. Alice did the same, and Claire cupped a hand on the older woman's jaw.

They eventually broke apart, and Alice grinned at her lazily. "Get some sleep."

Claire nodded, returning the grin. "Good night, Alice."

"Good night, Claire."

* * *

**A/N: You know, it's surprising which direction a story can go when you let it take off. I wasn't planning on having a kiss yet, but the story did its own thing. And I'm okay with that. Hope you are too.**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. Ya'll know the drill. Hit the review button, let me know how I'm doing. Please?**

**P.P.S. Title comes from the song by Allstar Weekend. As I was finishing this update, that song was playing. Yeah, that's happened a few times. :D But hey, I'm not complaining.**


	6. PDA

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil series, or the characters, or the games. Or anything that has to do with that. Cause if I did, well, you know :D**

**Pairings: Alice/Claire, Jill/?, K-Mart/?, former Alice/Jill (I still haven't decided and Jill and K-Mart. Maybe I'll just pair them with each other?...nah. I don't think so.)**

**P.S. How are you guys doing? As for me, I've lost me voice. Cause I was screaming like a crazy fangirl at a basketball game. It was TOTES worth it. Sorry for not updating for a while. College has been kicking my ass from here to the moon and back again. And before I forget…**

**Remi: You'd best take that poke back, if ya know what's good for ya! Just kidding! (Or am I?) Jill was kind of a hypocrite, eh? But, I still loved her character. So in my story, she'll redeem herself, fear not. Your pitchfork is not necessary. Thanks for having Alice's back, though :D. **

**Everleigh: Thanks for enjoying the update, and I'm sure you'll enjoy this one, no?**

**P.P.S. Here we go! I hope you loves it!**

**P.P.P.S Title comes from the Interpol song of the same name. I LOVE THAT SONG. You should all go listen to it right now. Just saying.**

* * *

**Chapter Six: PDA**

* * *

Carlos placed his finger over an X on the map. "This is where that helicopter went, right?" He looked at Alice for confirmation, and she nodded.

"Yeah. I'd bet that's where the real Umbrella base is at."

Claire frowned. "That's all fine and good, but what happens when we actually get there?"

Alice smiled. "I take it down."

Claire's frown deepened. "'I?' You're planning on doing this alone?"

Alice went to argue, but Claire ran right over her. "What happened to doing this together? I'm not letting you get yourself killed over some stupid prideful shit!"

Alice shook her head. "I didn't mean I was going to do it alone. You guys will help, just not directly."

"What do you mean?" Carlos interjected.

Alice's eyes darkened. "You saw the undead that they planted here. They've been experimenting. I'm positive that their facility is surrounded by infected; that's where they get their test subjects."

"And?"

Alice grinned. "I know I could take down the probable thousands that are just hanging out, but I'd hate to have all the fun. I'll also need a way in."

Carlos grinned back. "So, you want us to blast you through?"

Alice nodded. "At the very least."

Claire watched their exchange in silence. From a place deep within her heart, she felt an unprompted pang of jealously. The two before her obviously had a very close relationship; they were remarkably similar.

She had no reason to be jealous. Clearly, what they shared was akin to a brother and sister relationship. She put a hand to her lips. Besides, the kiss that she and Alice had shared was…

She really shouldn't be jealous.

K-Mart walked up to join them. "So, what's the plan?"

Claire looked up at the sound of the teenager's voice. "We're moving out."

K-Mart rolled her eyes. "I gathered that. I meant, where are we going?"

Alice pointed at the map. "Right there."

K-Mart craned her neck to take a peek. "If I'm as good at reading maps as I used to be, I'd say that's pretty close to where we are right now."

Alice nodded. "That it is."

K-Mart smiled. "So, how are we helping?"

Claire shook her head. "Carlos and I, along with the _adults_ are going to devise a way to blast a hole through their defenses. You, K-Mart, and the _children_ are going to stay somewhere where it's safe."

K-Mart scoffed at Claire's response. "I'm not a _child_, Claire. I am a _young adult_. And as such, I am going to help."

"Like hell you are."

K-Mart looked to Alice for help, but Alice shook her head. "Sorry, K. I'm with Claire on this one. This isn't just some fight with the undead, this is Umbrella. Far more ruthless."

"You guys are no fun!" K-Mart crossed her arms and pouted.

Claire reached up and pinched the teen's cheek. "Quit sulking. It's unbecoming of a _young adult_."

K-Mart giggled in spite of herself. "Fine. But next time, I get to come."

"Uh, no."

* * *

"_How many do you think there are?"_

Alice raised the radio to her mouth. "At least a few hundred, if not more."

"_It's a party."_

Alice grinned. "Damn straight."

Claire was only half-listening to the pair, her only thoughts on K-Mart and the younger survivors. Once they'd arrived at the Umbrella base, they'd found an abandoned house and stationed the little ones there, after clearing out the unwelcome tenants. Claire had ordered Jill to stay with them as well, not trusting the woman completely yet. She'd known Jill years ago; she had no idea who Jill was after Umbrella experimented on her.

Alice finished talking to Carlos and looked at Claire, noticing the redhead's distracted expression. She placed a hand on the younger woman's arm. When Claire looked at her, the blonde smiled encouragingly. "You okay?"

Claire returned the smile and shrugged. "Yeah. I'm just worried, you know?"

Alice didn't have to ask; Claire was talking about K-Mart and the others. "They'll be fine. We'll take down Umbrella here and be back before dinner."

Claire chuckled at Alice's attempt to cheer her up. "Sure." She grew somber. "You really think it'll be that easy?"

Alice laughed. "Probably not. But I'm trying to stay positive."

Claire shook her head. "You're doing a terrible job."

Alice shrugged. "Carlos is the uplifting type, not me. I'm just great at killing things. That's what they designed me for, anyway."

Claire frowned at Alice's comment. "You're more than that."

Alice looked out toward the horde. "Am I?"

Claire caught Alice's chin and turned her so that they were looking into each other's eyes. "You are more than that. So much more than just an experiment."

Alice's eyes softened at the redhead's words. Remembering their kiss, she leaned in slowly, Claire following suit. Alice could feel the younger woman's breath mixing with her own, so she closed her eyes and…

"_I think I see movement."_

Carlos' voice crackled over the radio. The two women jerked back from one another. Alice snatched the radio, silently cursing Carlos in her head.

"What?"

"_Take a look for yourself."_

Claire took the binoculars, as Alice didn't need them. The pair watched the gate, and sure enough, a figure clad all in black came out from the door.

"_What do you think they're doing?"_

"I don't know," Alice responded. The figure approached the gate, and the undead all began vying for the new visitor. The figure reached out for a few seconds, then pulled back and returned to the door, disappearing through it.

"What was that about?" Claire asked.

Alice shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

* * *

K-Mart paced back and forth for the umpteenth time.

"You know, pacing like that isn't helping anyone." Jill spoke up.

K-Mart turned to glare at her, the older woman's features hazy from the cigarette smoke. "It's helping me," she snapped.

Jill shrugged. "I guess." She took a long drag and released it slowly, savoring the nicotine taste. "You know, I really owe it to Claire for letting me have one of her precious cigs."

K-Mart nodded. "I'm surprised she actually said yes."

Jill smiled. "Claire and I go way back, kid. Like back to high school."

K-Mart took a seat next to the older blonde. "You and her brother were partners in S.T.A.R.S., right?"

Jill nodded. "Yes, ma'am. We were best friends in high school anyway, so we decided to request to be partners. Seemed like a good idea."

K-Mart smiled. "Makes sense."

Jill shrugged. "We thought so too."

The pair lapsed into silence, Jill continuing to take drags through her deathstick, and K-Mart crossing and uncrossing her arms. The teen had a burning question on the back of her mind, so she decided to go for it.

"So, you and Alice…?"

Jill tensed, than quickly relaxed once she detected no ulterior motive from the younger blonde. "What about us?"

K-Mart averted the older woman's intense gaze. "You know…"

Jill chuckled. "No, I don't think I do. Care to elaborate?"

"Well, y-you know, you two…had a thing, right?" K-Mart spluttered.

Jill grinned. She liked teasing the teen. "Yeah, and?"

"Well, I…I, uh…I don't know," K-Mart finished.

Jill took a final drag of her cigarette and tossed it to the floor. For good measure, she stomped on it too, than fixed the younger blonde with another intense stare, though this time, there was humor in her eyes. K-Mart saw it, and smiled softly. "Was there something specific you wanted to know, K-Mart?" Jill asked.

K-Mart shrugged. "Not necessarily, no. I was simply wondering if it really had happened."

Jill chuckled darkly. "You know, sometimes I wonder the same thing myself. When Alice pulled that gun on me, a million thoughts should've been running through my head. Instead, I only had the one: she would never do that." She looked at the ground. "Or so I thought."

"But she didn't. Remember, Umbrella was in her head. Just like they were in yours." K-Mart reasoned.

Jill didn't respond, so K-Mart pressed on. "You know, when Claire and I first met Alice, there was one thing that I noticed immediately. Claire did too."

Jill scoffed. "The superhuman powers?"

K-Mart giggled a little. "That wasn't it, actually."

"Then what was?"

K-Mart sombered up. "The way she held herself. She walked like a woman who'd walked through hell and back more than once. Her eyes were haunted with something I couldn't place. But, I can now. It was you. Killing you and Angie weighed more heavily on her soul then I'll ever know. More then you'll ever know."

Jill didn't make a sound.

K-Mart stretched and sighed contendedly when a few joints cracked. "I know that you and Alice will never have what you did again. Neither of you will ever feel the same way. But, I do know that Alice is the type of woman who loves those close to her forever. It's not the same love, of course, but I know Alice never stopped loving you. And never will."

K-Mart searched Jill's face, waiting for something, anything. Then, the older woman snatched K-Mart into her arms and hugged her tightly. K-Mart, always the sentimental one, returned the hug warmly. She already knew Jill wasn't the type to cry or show affection very often, so she knew this was a special occasion.

* * *

Alice closed the door to the Hummer and surveyed the horde in front of her. Or, what was left.

They'd planted explosives all over the area, right underneath the horde's nose. And Umbrella's, it seemed. But, she knew better. Umbrella knew she was there.

That's exactly how she wanted it.

"_Alice?" _Claire's voice crackled at her hip.

She took the radio in hand. "Yeah?"

"…_Be careful."_ She could hear several different emotions in Claire's tone.

She smirked. "Why so worried?"

She wasn't expecting a response, rhetorical question as that was, so she was surprised to hear Claire say something back. Even more surprising was the actual words.

"_Because I don't want to lose you."_

Alice realized something at that moment. Smiling, she spoke softly. "You'll never lose me."

She cut off contact, not waiting for a response. None was needed anyway.

She unsheathed her blades and focused. Her primal instincts came to a head and she snarled, running for the nearest undead. As she slashed her way through the remaining enemies, she could see the door that would gain her access to the facility.

It was time to end it. This was for all the people who had died. This was for all the people who would die. This was for all the evil experiments Umbrella had performed. This was for Lisa, Matt, Dr. Ashford, Angie, Otto, Betty, and LJ. This was for Jill, K-Mart, Carlos and Claire.

This was for who she loved.

* * *

**A/N: There ya have it. And again, sorry for not updating in like a month. College is taking up more of my time then I had thought it would. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Before anyone starts complaining, K-Mart and Jill are not going to be paired romantically. Instead, they will develop a sister-like relationship, much like the one Claire and K-Mart and Alice and K-Mart share. They will all be different, of course, but you know. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I don't know when the next will be out, but hopefully it won't take another month. If it does end up taking that long, I'm sorry in advance B) **** This is a pair of sunglasses, in case anyone was wondering. A lot of people don't**

**get it. I wear a lot of sunglasses, so…**

**I hope y'all had a FANTASTIC Halloween. May there be many more!**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. Sorry if the chapter was a wee bit shorter than normal. I'll try to fix that next time :D**


	7. Starts With One

**Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil. Not the games, not the movies, not the characters, nada. Unfortunately…**

**Rating: M (yes, yes, we all know why. Blood and gore, language, blah blah blah. Smexy will come :D )**

**Pairings: Alice/Claire, Jill/?, K-Mart/?, former Alice/Jill (I'll eventually figure out who I'm pairing Jill and K-Mart with…hold on. You know what? Why don't you guys throw some ideas my way? Who do you want to see them paired with?)**

**P.S. Hey guys. I'm back, again. I hope ya missed me. Cause I missed you. NOT. Hahaha just kidding, no I did miss you guys. I don't think I replied to everyone's reviews, but since I'm incurably lazy, I won't this time. Next chapter for sure, though. Just not this one: p. I hope y'all don't mind. Cause I sure don't, HA.**

**P.P.S. The chapter title comes from the song by the Shiny Toy Guns. Okay, seriously, drop whatever you're doing and go listen to it. In fact, just go listen to their entire We Are Pilots album. It may be old, but it's AWESOME. You know what? Just go listen to all of their music. They are a fantastic band, totes one of my faves.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Starts With One**

* * *

She knew he was here. She could smell him. But, something was different. He smelled different.

He'd changed, somehow.

He smelled…he smelled like _them._

But, why?

He shouldn't smell like them. He was a human, a doctor.

Right?

She continued walking down the dark corridor, her guns trained in the air in front of her. She'd already torn through the mass of undead in the beginning of the facility. The deeper she went, the less moving infected she saw. Something had already killed them, torn them apart.

But, who?

Her boots clanged on the metal floors. Normally, she'd be more careful. Not that she was afraid, or ill-equipped to kill infected, but swarms of the undead rushing her tended to bring a lot of unwanted attention to her position. But, once she entered the facility, she'd stopped caring. She wanted everyone and everything to know she was there.

They all needed to die.

Yet, there was a severe lack of anything to kill. So making noise wasn't an issue anyway.

She spotted a light up ahead. Dropping her guns to her side, she ran toward it, hoping there was something, _anything_, for her to kill.

She could feel her heartbeat in her ears, and it excited her. While the T-virus did give her beneficial strengths, one drawback was the bloodlust. Her blood had bonded with it, sure, but she still had the feral instincts. The drive to fight, to kill.

Bursting into the room, she realized two things immediately. One, the light she saw wasn't from an actual light bulb or anything, but from what looked like a pod formed of water in the center of the area. Two, she saw herself in the pod.

"What?" she whispered to herself. She approached it cautiously. Her guns were holstered, but one hand hovered above them, ready to draw at the slightest provocation.

Using her free hand, she brushed her fingers lightly over the surface of the pod. It rippled and splashed under her touch, quickly regaining its form when she pulled her hand away.

"_Who…? Who are you?"_

She looked around at the sound of the voice. Finding no possible source, she turned back to the pod and looked closer.

Her copy's eyelids were fluttering rapidly.

"_Where am I?"_

The voice…it was hers. Her copy was speaking to her, telepathically.

"It's alright," she reassured her copy.

The copy fell silent. She stared into the pod curiously. The copy looked just like her, but the hair was longer and blonder. It was an exact replica of her five years ago, back when she'd first gotten her powers.

The copy's eyes snapped open. The pod burst, and she rushed to catch her clone before her head hit the ground.

She stared into her clone's eyes, lost for words. The copy, gasping for air, reached toward her with a shaking hand.

"A…Alice…" the clone rasped. Her eyes rolled upward, than she was still.

Alice sucked in a breath sharply. It wasn't easy watching herself die.

She pulled off her tan trench coat. She laid her clone's head down softly on the metal floor, and laid her coat on top of the naked corpse.

Hearing a hiss, she looked to her right to see a previously closed door slide open. She snarled.

The good doctor would pay for this.

* * *

"I know you're worried. She'll be out in no time," Carlos tried.

Claire nodded absently. "I know."

"So what are you worried about, then?"

She smiled. "It's not that I doubt her abilities. I know she can easily handle anything in there. It's just the fact that I'm not actually there to keep an eye on her, you know?"

Carlos nodded. "I understand your viewpoint."

"Thanks, Olivera. I knew there was a brain under that big head. Somewhere."

He chuckled. "Anytime, Redfield. And you know what they say: the bigger the head, the bigger the brain."

She shook her head, laughing. "If you say so." Sobering up, she sighed. "How much longer do you think it'll take?"

He shrugged. "Alice is a thorough woman, I'll give you that. So, however long she needs to feel absolutely certain that she's fully completed her task."

Claire groaned. "Of course."

Carlos clapped her on the back. "Hey, come on. Being thorough isn't a bad thing, you know." He waggled his eyebrows. "I'll bet she's even more thorough in…other ways."

She blushed lightly. "I wouldn't know. Why don't you ask Jill?"

He laughed. "Maybe I will. And don't worry, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." He accompanied his words with a suggestive grin.

She punched him in the arm, hard. "My sex life is none of your concern."

"Not right now, anyway. Give it a little time." He dodged the second punch she threw his way. "See ya, Claire."

"Fuck you."

* * *

He turned around when he felt her approaching. "Ah, Project Alice. How good of you to join me."

She lowered her guns slightly. "Isaacs? What the hell did you do to yourself?"

He observed one of his mutated arms and laughed, stretching to his full size. "I…have evolved."

She cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

He shook his head. "You know of what I speak, Project Alice. You and I, we are the same. We have both evolved into something far superior to mere humans. We…are _gods_. Trapped in a world of mortals."

She chuckled. "That's what you think? Have you looked in a mirror lately, doctor? You look like shit."

He shrugged off her insult. "Mock me if you wish, but you know what I speak is the truth. You, who was Umbrella's greatest achievement…and our greatest failure. You could have been the greatest operative we've ever had."

She groaned. "Of course. Why do all of you seem to think that I was simply going to let you indoctrinate me?"

He chuckled. "I cannot say. Somehow, I did see it. Even before we experimented on you, you were always so strong-willed. It matters not. I found a way."

"Found a way?"

"Yes. A way to cut our losses, so to speak. I'm sure you saw, on your way in, the clone?"

She nodded.

"Well, that was one of many. In the beginning, there were more. However, after the first few dozen did not meet my expectations, I began to focus less on quantity and more on quality. The clone you saw was the last of my failures."

"Meaning?" She was growing impatient, and quickly.

He whistled, and from another room, two figures joined him. Two clones, to be exact.

"These…are my legacy. They are exact replicas of you, and better yet, they obey my every command."

She smiled humorlessly. "Obey your every command? And how is that better?"

Isaacs ignored the comment. "I wonder, Project Alice. Can you handle fighting against two individuals that are just as powerful as you?"

She scoffed. "They may be my clones, but they are not as powerful as me. You can't make a copy that's better than the original."

Isaacs smiled, his massive, mutated face twisted into a thing from a child's nightmare. "We shall see." He turned to the copies. "One, Two, you know what to do."

Alice snorted loudly. "One and Two? Way to be original."

He shook his head at her. "These two are not people, they are experiments. As such, they do not receive true names. You should understand this."

She could feel her blood beginning to stir in anger. "I should understand this? And why the fuck is that?"

He shrugged, unperturbed. "You were an experiment. Hence the title, 'Project Alice'. It is not an insult, merely an observation."

"I'm not just a fucking experiment," she snarled lowly, her hands shaking on the grips of her guns.

"What you believe matters no longer," he said, his face twisting into that sadistic grin, "because you will be dead within minutes."

She crouched into a battle-ready position. Already, her control over her powers was slipping. "I'm glad you have such faith in your lackeys. It's just a damn shame that I'll have to rip them to shreds."

He chuckled darkly. "And I'm glad that you believe you actually stand a chance." He signaled to the two clones, and they sprang into action.

Simultaneously, One and Two dashed behind Alice, on opposite sides, trying to catch her off guard. Alice jumped into the air a second before their punches connected; reaching out her own hands, Alice grabbed each by the back of the head and slammed them into the ground. She somersaulted forward, intent on confronting Isaacs, but One and Two had something different in mind for her.

One drew a pistol from her thigh holster and shot at Alice, managing to catch her in the shoulder. Alice shrugged it off and rushed One, catching her in the head with a vicious roundhouse kick. The clone crashed to the floor and was still. Alice then turned her attention toward Two; the clone looked unsure for all of two seconds. Seemingly coming to a conclusion, she pulled a grenade from One's body and pulled the pin. She ran at Alice and grabbed her, one hand gripping her other wrist in an attempt to keep Alice restrained.

Alice knew she had mere seconds to get away. She reared her head back and head-butted her clone with a resounding crack. Two's grip slackened, and Alice tore herself away. Knowing she wouldn't be able to get far enough away from the radius in the little time she had left, she simply shielded herself telepathically as the grenade exploded, blowing chunks of flesh in every direction.

Isaacs had been watching the entire debacle with an air of indifference; to him, it was simply another experiment. His hypothesis was clearly wrong: the two clones had been nothing but an annoyance to Project Alice. This just meant the cloning process was not as complete as he originally assumed.

Alice regarded Isaacs, carefully calculating his facial expressions and body language. "So. Was that it? All that research, down the drain?"

He chuckled. "It would appear so. It seems as though I still have a lot more work to do before my clones come close to matching the original."

"Well, no shit. These two clones were from before I got my powers."

Isaacs nodded. "I know. I thought that if I focused more on physical prowess than telepathic abilities, I would be more successful. I was wrong."

She smiled humorlessly. "And now you'll die for it."

He scowled. "Do not assume I am as weak as One and Two. I am not a copy of anything, Project Alice. I am 100% original, and as such," he raised his arms as if to lift the sun, "cannot be defeated so easily."

She smiled again. "I never assume. It makes an ass out of you and me. I _know_ that I'm gonna end you, here and now."

He grinned. "Give it your best shot then, Alice. We'll see who's the more powerful."

She ran toward him and leaped, catching him in the head with a spin kick. His head cracked sickeningly to the side, and she landed in a crouch. Only a moment later, his head squelched back into place and he cackled maniacally. "You cannot hurt me, Project Alice. I am far stronger than you."

She stood slowly, reciting his words in her mind like a mantra. It wasn't so much that he was stronger than her, but he definitely had more mass. It absorbed the power of her attacks like a sponge. She decided then and there to switch tactics.

Clearing her mind of previous thoughts, she focused intently on one thing only: making him hurt. Her pupils dilated, and she could feel the power of her telekinesis warping around her like a liquid. She glared at him, and the air rippled around her as she shot out a blast of telekinetic energy.

The ground shattered beneath the force, and Dr. Isaacs went flying backward through a wall. A cloud of dust erupted when he burst through, and Alice took the brief respite to gauge her situation. Isaacs would be back up soon, she knew this. Her physical attacks, while extremely powerful, were doing very little against his mutated form. The way she saw it, she'd have to focus on using her powers instead.

All too soon, she could hear the clatter of stone as Isaacs rose from the rubble and stepped back through the hole. "That was an excellent display of your powers, Project Alice," he said approvingly, "but it's my turn to show you some real strength."

As he said it, he glared at her in a mimicry of her actions a couple of minutes ago, and she felt herself get blown off her feet, going through the wall behind her much in the same way as Isaacs. She hit the ground with a grunt. As she struggled to get to her feet, she heard the _plip_ of her blood splashing against the white floor.

She looked around quickly before Isaacs reached her, noting the similarity between the white room she was in now, and the one she had encountered back in Detroit five years ago.

She knew what she had to do.

"Well, Alice?" Isaacs stepped into the room through her hole and grinned crookedly at her. "I would say my powers may even be greater than yours."

She scoffed. She had to make him come to her so the sensors would detect them and turn on the defensive lasers.

He took a step closer, unknowing. "I am a god, Alice. A god among insects. And you…you are naught but a failure."

She laughed, knowing her next words would infuriate him. "No. You're just…another asshole."

Expectedly, he scowled and charged at her, raising an arm to strike, but the alarm that went off stopped him in his tracks. He looked behind him fearfully, his eyes widening in realization.

She smiled. "That's right. We're both gonna die here."

The lasers materialized and zoomed toward the pair, creating an inescapable grid. They sliced right through the good doctor and Alice closed her eyes, ready for the end. Thoughts of what she was going to lose flashed through her mind as she felt the heat of the lasers grow stronger.

She opened her eyes reflexively, and did not see the grid.

There was nothing in front of her but the mutated doctor, and he was slowly sliding to pieces onto the floor.

Elsewhere, her clone smiled as she removed her hand from the emergency shutoff button.

* * *

**A/N: Okay. There you have it. I hope the length of this one makes up for last chapter. I mean, I'm pretty sure it was longer than the last one...if not, my bad. Sorry again it took so long to get this out, but finals start next week, and I've been holed up in my cave (dorm room) studying like a dying person. So, yeah…**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. I just wanted to address something. I know that in the movie, when Alice telekinetically blasts Isaacs, it shows that she's drained from that one little thing. In this story, I'm making her powers more…powerful. Stronger! Yeah, I can write good. HAHA. Anywho, ignoring the deranged ramblings of a college kid who hasn't slept in like four days, that is one of the major tweaks I'm going to be making. Just thought I should let you know. Next chapter will deal with Alice and the clone going back to the convoy, and such and such.**

**P.P.S. Don't forget to lemme know who you wanna see Jill and K-Mart paired with. Your suggestions will definitely be taken into consideration, so don't feel like your opinion won't matter even if you do give it. Once I decide, after thinking EVERYTHING over, I'll let you know what I picked and why, as well as why I didn't pick what I didn't pick. Whatever those may be. Yeah.**

**P.P.P.S. Don't forget to review! AND NEVER FORGET THAT I LOVE YOU GUYS FOR BEING SO AWESOME. Seriously though, everyone is awesome in their own way, and never let ANYONE tell you different, especially those that are just so damn insecure that they have to project those insecurities on everyone else. They're stupid, and a complete and total waste of your time. You're too good for them. Never forget that.**

**P.P.P.P.S. I don't really know where this inspirational stuff is coming from. Probably from a combination of lack of sleep, stress, excitement at winter break (Christmas is my FAVORITE time of year. Not so much the presents, but just the familial and communal aspect of everything. Most peeps is just happier during Christmas times. Oh, and CHRISTMAS MUSIC! Seriously, who does not love blasting "Jingle Bells" or "Frosty the Snowman" or others as loud as you can, with the windows down and singing as loud as you can?), and just all-around being me.**

**P.P.P.P.P.S. I hope you guys don't mind this side of me. If you do, well….yeah, I'm not gonna use the choice words I had in mind :P**

**P.P.P.P.P.P.S. BYE!**


	8. A Brief Respite

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil. None of it. Nada. Nilch. Zip. Zero.**

**Rating: M (heh heh)**

**P.S. Hello. How are you guys? As for me, I am still running on very little sleep. But, I'll keep it short this time. Here is the eighth chapter.**

**P.P.S. Thank you to those who gave me an opinion on who to pair Jill and K-Mart with.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: A Brief Respite**

* * *

"We should probably get you some clothes," Alice noted.

Her clone shrugged. "Unless you want me running around naked. Which I'm sure would be weird for you."

Alice nodded. "Yeah, just a lot."

Her clone grinned. "Although…"

Alice pointed a finger at her in warning. "Don't even think about it."

Her clone held her hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay! I won't, promise."

Alice stooped down and checked over the corpse at her feet. The woman had been wearing green cargo pants, a white tank with a black jacket, and brown combat boots. She nodded toward her clone. "You can wear this. I think there are underwear and a bra as well."

Her clone wrinkled her nose. "Do I have to? That person is…well, dead."

Alice cocked an eyebrow. "So? Take what you can get. This is all you've got, because you're not going to be running around in the nude."

Her clone sighed. "Fine…" She removed Alice's overcoat and handed it to her. She smiled as Alice quickly turned away. "What's the matter, Alice? It's your body."

"I know," Alice said quickly. "It's just…odd."

Her clone shrugged and turned around, dressing rapidly. Once she was fully clothed, she addressed the other woman. "You can look now, Alice."

Alice looked back. Her clone filled out the clothes nicely. "We should probably get back to the others, uh…"

Her clone cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"I just…I don't what to call you. Do you have a name?"

Her clone furrowed her brow. "No, I don't think so. Dr. Isaacs just kept calling me a failure, but I would rather not be called that by everyone else."

Alice snorted. "That makes sense." She paced a few times, deep in thought. Coming to a stop, she smiled widely. "We should get moving…Casey."

Her clone grinned. "Casey, huh? Where'd that come from?"

"My mother's name."

Casey nodded, solemn. "It clearly means a lot to you. I'll do my best to do it justice."

"Thank you, Casey."

"Casey…" Casey rolled the name around on her tongue, savoring the taste.

Alice frowned. "Are you okay with that? I can think of another one if you want."

Casey grinned. "No, no! I love it. It'll just take some getting used to. Having an actual identity isn't something I've ever had before."

Alice placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll never be a slave to science again."

Casey put a hand over her heart and fake-swooned. "Oh, my hero!"

Alice smacked her lightly. "Don't be a smart ass."

"But, technically, I'm you, so you're the smart ass," Casey quipped.

Alice shook her head. "Whatever." She gave the room one last sweep and beckoned to Casey. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Claire stared into her can of pork and beans, not having said a word since dinner started. K-Mart swallowed the last mouthful of her own food and looked at Claire questioningly. "Claire?"

Claire didn't respond, continuing to stare both into the can and into the dancing flames.

K-Mart sighed, and placed her empty can and utensil into the sand beside her. "Claire!"

Claire started, looking at K-Mart. "What? What is it, K?"

K-Mart smiled sweetly. "You haven't taken a bite. And that can was opened ten minutes ago."

Claire looked at the can, seemingly seeing it for the first time. "Oh. I didn't notice."

"She'll be back soon."

Claire sighed. "I know, I know. You and Carlos can stop worrying. It's starting to drive me insane."

K-Mart giggled. "Oh, Claire. We'll never stop worrying, especially since it's you."

"'Especially' since it's me? What's that supposed to mean?" Claire asked hotly. K-Mart only shrugged innocently in response.

"Guys? I think I see Alice!" Carlos' voice floated down from his lookout position on top of his truck.

Claire and K-Mart leapt to their feet and clambered up to join Carlos. Claire took the offered binoculars and looked in the direction he indicated. "I think it is her!"

She jumped down from the truck, ready to run over to Alice and either punch her or kiss her, but resisted the urge to do so. Composing herself, she settled for leaning against the truck, crossing her arms tightly.

K-Mart came down the ladder and stood next to her. "Huh. I was expecting you to sprint over there or something."

Claire scoffed. "Please. There's no way in hell I would ever do that." Sometimes, she felt K-Mart knew her too damn well.

K-Mart rolled her eyes and mirrored Claire's posture. "Sure..."

* * *

"Is that them?" Casey asked.

Alice nodded. "That's them. Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"All the questions," Alice chuckled. "You do realize people are not used to seeing two people that look exactly alike?"

Casey cocked an eyebrow. "What about twins?"

"Hmm. While that is true, I don't actually _have _a twin," Alice noted.

"Well, did you tell them that?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "They're going to know, Casey. Even twins have distinctness from one another. Whereas you and I…well."

"Aren't those that look _exactly _alike called identical twins?" Casey furrowed her brow in mock thought.

Alice shook her head. "I've known you for all of an hour, and already I'm starting to regret it."

Casey placed a hand on her heart. "Alice, you wound me so. Look at me; I'm bleeding all over the place."

Alice chuckled, than grew somber. "Seriously, Casey, are you sure you're ready for this?"

Casey nodded. "I may be you," at this point she stopped and gave Alice a knowing grin, "but I'm the you from five years ago. So, I've got _way _better social skills."

Alice frowned. "Rude."

"Truth," Casey corrected.

"Hmph."

* * *

Claire's cocked eyebrow rose higher with each step that the pair took toward them. Finally, when the two women actually stopped in front of her, she could feel the strain of her eyebrow struggling to go further. Any more, and the damn thing would have jumped off her head. She lowered it quickly, only to have the other one raise in its place.

"Uh…"

Alice smiled. "Yeah, I'm still reeling a little bit too."

Casey looked slowly from Claire to Alice. "I take it this was what you meant?"

Claire did a double take. Holy shit, the other one didn't just look exactly like Alice, she sounded exactly like her too!

Alice chuckled. "Trust me, this is a weak reaction. Just wait until Jill gets a look at you."

"Alice…who is this, exactly?" Claire seemed to have found her coherent words again.

"This is Casey," Alice answered. "Casey, this is-"

Casey stuck out a hand. "Claire. Nice to finally put a face to the name."

Both Claire and Alice stared at her, though Alice's was far less pronounced. "How the hell do you know who I am?" Claire realized a second too late that she sounded kind of hostile.

Casey just laughed. "It's okay. I can understand your confusion. All I know is that Dr. Isaacs liked to talk about you." She thought for a moment. "A lot."

Alice frowned. "Why would Isaacs talk about Claire? He doesn't know you, does he?" The last question was directed at the redhead.

Claire shook her head. "I don't even know who this Dr. Isaacs is."

"He's the guy that injected Alice with the T-virus. And the one who experimented on Jill. And the man who forced Alice to kill Angie. And the one who created me, along with a hell of a lot more clones." Casey ticked off each statement on a finger. "Need I go on?"

"So, he's the bastard that caused most of this?" Claire asked angrily.

"He did do all of the things Casey mentioned, and more," Alice responded. "As to if he was the one who actually released the T-virus, well, that'll remain speculation forever."

"What do you mean?"

"I killed him," the blonde said simply.

"Actually, I do believe it was I who killed him," Casey interjected.

Alice frowned at her. "No, I did."

"Who was the one who activated the lasers?" Casey asked casually.

"Who was the one who got him into that room in the first place?" Alice shot back.

"Ladies!" Claire interrupted. "As I'm sure you'd both love to go back and forth forever, we have more pressing matters to attend to."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Alice looked at Casey pointedly. The clone simply shrugged. "I'm not apologizing. I was right."

"So, what do we do?" K-mart asked. Claire almost jumped; she'd forgotten her sister was standing beside her the entire time.

Alice looked to Claire. "I don't know. Claire, what do you think?"

Claire took off her ball cap and ran a hand through her hair. "I…I'm not sure. We've taken down this Umbrella base, Isaacs is dead…" She trailed off, deep in thought.

Casey nudged Alice. "Can I speak with you? Privately?"

Alice nodded and took Casey aside, closer to the fire where they were less likely to be overheard by the other members of the convoy. "What is it?"

"Are you going to tell them about Arcadia?"

Alice's eyebrows rose slightly. "Okay…how the hell do you know about that too?"

Casey shrugged. "Isaacs knew about it. You'd be surprised how much stuff he imprinted into me before throwing me aside. I'm certain he planted that journal at that gas station intentionally."

Alice shook her head. "Dammit. How did he know I'd go there?"

"The White Queen."

"Who?"

"A hologram, like the Red Queen, but way less homicidal. That thing could calculate algorithms like you wouldn't believe; he used those to predict actions that you'd take. And surprisingly, it was usually right," Casey explained.

"Damn him," Alice cursed quietly. "Anyway, what's done is done." She looked at Casey curiously. "What else do you know? I mean, what else did he imprint?"

Casey shrugged. "Lots of stuff. Most of it was your background, but some of it was more recent stuff. Things like Detroit, what you've been up to for the past five years, where you got those kukri blades…"

"Wait," Alice stopped Casey. "You know about the blades?"

"Yeah. He did too. When you were traveling through Sacramento and stopped at that-"

Alice held up her hands. "I know the story. What else?"

"Hmm. Well, I know about Becky."

"How did he-?"

"White Queen," Casey answered simply.

"That scheming little fucker," Alice snarled.

"Yup. Didn't you ever wonder why Becky looked the way she did?" Casey asked.

Alice thought back. "Dark red hair, green eyes…"

"Claire's nose, your mouth," Casey continued. "Personality wise, she was brash like Claire, at times, but also calm and calculated, like you."

Alice rubbed at her eyes. This was no time to be getting emotional. "He planned that too, didn't he?"

Casey nodded. "He thought it would break you somehow, make you weaker."

"…Hold on. How would you know her personality?" Alice quickly switched topics to ensure that the tears would not show again.

"Well, Isaacs had created clones of her too. Unfortunately, he had them all…eradicated before you got to the facility. The one he placed in that house had been with me for a couple years. I don't know why, but he always had them cloned at age four." The younger blonde looked thoughtful. "I think he had a slight obsession with the number."

"So, you knew her?"

"Yeah. She was like a daughter to me. When he sent her away, I was devastated. She reminded me so much of myself. Well, of you," Casey corrected herself hastily.

Alice placed a strong hand on the other woman. "Casey, you have your own identity. You may be a clone, but you're still an individual. And, I don't see you as a clone. More like a younger, annoying sister."

Casey smiled at the last part. "Thanks. I'm not one for identity crises, but I just wanted to make sure…"

Alice shook her head. "It's okay. You're your own person now. I think that, and the others will to. We're already quite different."

Casey chuckled. "That's true. I'm way more fun.'

"I resent that. If you went through the last five years of hell that I did, you'd be the same," Alice said seriously. "And I can still be fun!"

"That remains to be seen."

Alice lightly smacked her. "Seeing as I'm taking on the role of your older, more rigid sister, you'd better start showing me some respect, young lady."

Casey softly shoved her in retaliation. "And seeing as I'm taking on the role of your younger, more rebellious sister, I reserve the right to defy you at every turn."

Alice laughed loudly. "You'll regret saying that."

"Sure. But anyway, about Arcadia…"

Alice grew serious again, but that twinkle in her eye remained. "I'll tell them. It's time to bring them some hope."

Casey nodded. "And, if it's alright with you, could I come with?"

Alice threw an arm around the younger woman. "Of course. I mean, you'll have to ask Claire, seeing as she's the leader, but you're a guaranteed shoe-in."

* * *

"What do you think they're talking about?" Carlos asked.

Claire shrugged from her reclining position against the truck. "Probably sorting things out, I don't really know. It's their business, anyway."

K-Mart fiddled with one of her many bracelets. "What do you think about…?"

"Casey," Claire provided helpfully.

K-Mart smiled. "Yeah, her. What are your thoughts?"

Carlos shrugged. "She looks exactly like Alice did back in Detroit. If she's anything like she was back then, she'll be a lot more fun. The last five years seem to have taken a serious toll on Alice's personality."

"What was she like before?" Claire wondered aloud.

"Mostly the same as she is now, but more…relaxed," Carlos answered. "She was less wise, as she had only just manifested her powers. You should have seen how curious she was when she would try them out. She was like a young kid trying to learn how to ride a bike, but more focused and determined."

"I wonder what exactly caused the change," K-Mart said.

Carlos shrugged. "She may tell us one day, she may not. She also used to smile a lot more. Although, that part of her is coming back, slowly but surely." He gave Claire a knowing grin, K-Mart's face mirroring his.

Claire shot them both a glare. "What?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Are you three quite finished gossiping about me?" The trio turned to find Alice and Casey walking toward them, both of their mouths stretched into identical smiles.

Carlos scratched his head. "Yeah, I think we're pretty much good."

"So, are you two good now?" Claire asked.

Alice nodded. "We also have an idea as to where to go next."

"Good."

"But first, Casey has something to ask you."

Claire looked at the woman in question. "Shoot."

Casey coughed nervously. "Uh, if it's alright with you…may I please come along?"

Claire cocked an eyebrow. Why would she even need to ask? She looked at Alice. The blonde was giving Claire a sly grin. Slowly, Claire's eyes lit up. Oh, so that's what she was thinking…

Claire sighed dramatically. "I don't know, Casey." It was good to know her acting skills hadn't deteriorated at all.

Casey's face fell the slightest nanometer. Claire struggled not to laugh. Behind her, she could hear K-Mart and Carlos battling the same action. "We already have so many people, and our supplies are running low. I honestly don't know if I can handle having another mouth to feed."

Casey looked so crestfallen, Claire almost ruined the joke right there. "Oh…okay, I understand. If I could maybe just get a map…?"

Alice, surprisingly, was the first to crack. She let out an audible snort, and Casey's head whipped around to find the older woman grinning widely. Casey turned back around to find K-Mart giggling behind her hand. Carlos' shoulders were jerking as he tried to contain his own laughter, eventually failing miserably. Claire finally just started laughing, which caused the others to do the same.

Poor Casey just kept looking at each of them. "I don't get it. What's so funny?"

Claire took pity on the woman and clapped her on the back. "We're just fucking with you, Casey. Of course you can come with us."

Casey's face lit up, than darkened ever so slightly as she turned to look at Alice. "You started this, I'll assume?"

Alice grinned even wider. "I told you I could still be fun."

Casey shook her head. "I walked right into that one, I admit it."

"That's okay, kid. You'll eventually learn," Carlos reassured her. It was nice seeing everyone in jovial spirits every once in a while. And he never thought he'd see Alice look that happy ever again. Or Claire, for that matter.

"All joking aside, we really do have an idea as to where we go next," Alice said as everyone settled down.

"Let's hear it."

"Well, a few days before I met all of you, I came across this journal at a gas station. In it, someone had jotted down notes about a place called Arcadia…"

* * *

**A/N: There you go. Eighth chapter all done and ready to be consumed (not literally). I hope you all enjoyed, and I look forward to hearing from you all in the form of reviews ( *hint, hint* ). This chapter was lighter than others, but fret not. The drama, death, and such will be back. Deuces.**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. As to whom I'm pairing Jill and K-Mart with, I think I'll divulge that next chapter. However, it is NOT too late for y'all to shoot me a review or even a PM about who you want to see them with. Remember, ALL ideas will be taken into account, and you will get an explanation as to who I did pick and why, as well as who I didn't pick and why. Don't be shy :D**

**P.P.S. There is one thing I wanted to touch upon before going any further in this story: Casey's personality. I'm really trying my best to set her aside from Alice in the way that she has the same knowledge Alice contains, as a direct result of imprinting, but doesn't deal with it in the same way. This is due to the fact that she's closer to a child in some ways, because she has never been outside in the real world, so she takes a lot of things in much like a child would. One of the most significant of said things is how she interacts with others; much like a child would, there will be times where she is brutally honest. It is not because she is trying to be mean, but it is simply because she has not developed a filter yet (honestly, I'm not even sure if she will. I'm kind of enjoying the prospect of her being something of a foil to Alice's character, in more ways than just one). Also, when it comes to fighting and such, she will have a rather different outlook on it than Alice does. Anywho, that is all. Tah tah for now.**


	9. Undisclosed Desires

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil series, or the characters, or the video games. I simply use their assets in any way I see fit ^.^**

**Rating: M (we all know why :D )**

**Pairings: Alice/Claire, K-Mart/?, Jill/?, former Alice/Jill**

**P.S. Howdy do? So, I know I said I'd divulge who K-Mart and Jill were going to end up with next chapter, but for some reason I really can't decide. So, depending on how many people choose for each pair, that'll determine who gets to be with whom (and if I ever make up my mind). And so, the choices are (I actually narrow them down…at least I think I did):**

**Jill/Casey, Jill/Rain, K-Mart/Casey, and K-Mart/Becky (an older one, fret not)**

**P.P.S. There you have it. Think long and hard about it (PLEASE). Also, do not be afraid to shoot me some ideas as to how you want the particular relationship to go down. What kind of plot babies do you want to see between the different romantic pairs as they start to build a serious relationship?**

**P.P.P.S. To Guest: Thank you kindly for the two reviews you sent my way (unless it's two different people, in which case…AWKWARD.) It warms my heart to know that people are actually interested in reading what I'm putting up, enough so that they actually review. Anywho, I hope you continue to do so for future chapters.**

**P.P.P.P.S. Title comes from the song by Muse. EVERYONE GO LISTEN TO MUSE RIGHT NOW, AS THEY ARE SO FRIGGIN' AMAZING ^_^**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Undisclosed Desires**

* * *

"So, they just knocked you out and chained you up?" K-Mart asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Alice nodded. "Well, I had just killed one of their own. I expected nothing less."

"How hard did they hit you, exactly?"

Alice laughed. "I may be more…advanced then the average human, but my head still remains one of my weak spots. I can be knocked unconsciousness just like anyone else. It just takes a little bit more. And to answer your question, they hit me rather hard."

"Hmm…so what'd you do after you woke up?"

"Well, they planned on feeding me to their infected dogs. They underestimated my strength, because I was able to break free and get them to fall into the pit with their pets. The dogs ate them alive as I escaped out the back door."

K-Mart smiled. "Wow…you're so cool, Alice."

Casey snorted. "Hardly. You shouldn't have allowed yourself to get caught in the first place."

Alice shook her head. "I'd have liked to see what you would've done, Casey."

"Probably something infinitely more cool than what you did."

"Oh? Care to elaborate?"

A few yards away, Claire watched as the pair went at it. It had been a couple of days since Casey had joined them, and since she and Alice had explained about Arcadia. She hadn't told the rest of the convoy yet, because in all honesty, Claire had to admit that while the idea sounded heavenly, she didn't want false hope. After all, who was to say that Alaska wasn't already overrun with undead? They didn't know how long ago the person had jotted down their notes. She wanted to believe in it, she really did, but the truth of the matter was that she'd been let down too many times before.

"You look like you could use someone to talk to, Red."

Claire shrugged. "I'm just thinking."

"You don't know what to do about this Arcadia place, huh?"

"Hit the nail right on the head, Olivera."

Carlos smiled widely. "Don't forget, I am a genius."

Claire chuckled, but the humor faded quickly, doubt reigning its head once again. "What do I do, Carlos? I don't want to give everyone a stupid pipe dream, one that may or may not be actually true."

"Maybe that's what they need. We've been running and fighting for years, Claire. They need something, anything to believe in. We can give them that, even if it does turn out to be nothing good."

"You think so?" the redhead asked softly.

"I do. And, if it turns out to be true…well, that's even better, I'd say."

Claire snorted at his comment. "It would be something, that's for sure."

The two fell into an easy silence, each lost in their own thoughts. "So, you and Alice. What's going on there?" Carlos asked abruptly.

Claire reddened. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"I…we just…I don't know." Claire wasn't lying. Neither she nor Alice had openly discussed their relationship; she didn't know where they stood or what the terms were. All she did know was that she had strong feelings for the older woman, much stronger than she'd ever admit.

"You don't know, eh? Well, that's interesting." Carlos scratched his beard absently. "I just want you to know, whatever you two decide to do, you have my full support."

Claire socked him. "I'm so glad we have your permission."

He grunted at the contact. "I'm serious, Claire. Whatever's happened between you two is really changing her. I'm catching a lot more glimpses of the woman she used to be now than I did when she first came back. She's happy again."

Claire didn't respond. She had no idea what to say to that.

Carlos clapped a hand on her shoulder. "What's the matter?"

"…I don't know if I can be what you're saying I am." she admitted quietly.

Carlos' eyes widened, than he started to chortle lightly. "Claire, you don't have to try. You already are. I can see it, K-Mart can certainly see it and the others can see it too. I'll bet even Casey can see it."

She scuffed her boot into the grass. "I don't…"

Carlos cut her off. "Stop thinking so much about it and just let it happen, Red."

"When did you get so philosophical? And about romantic things, no less?"

He shrugged, grinning. "I told you. I'm a genius."

* * *

"Okay, everybody, listen up. Alice and Casey have informed me that there is a place called Arcadia, in Alaska, where there's a chance the infection hasn't spread that far. This is too big of a decision for me to make for you, so I want hands. Who votes for Alaska?"

Almost instantaneously, each and every member of the convoy raised their hand.

Claire smiled. "Alaska it is."

A resounding cheer went through the group, as everyone began to hug their neighbor and celebrate. Claire walked over to Alice and softly clasped her wrist. "I really hope you're right about this."

The blonde took Claire's hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be okay, Claire. Have a little faith."

Claire snorted. "Faith hasn't gotten me this far."

Alice grinned. Leaning in close, she captured Claire's lips in a soft kiss, one that left Claire feeling weak-kneed. She slipped a hand behind Alice's head and tangled her fingers into the short locks. Alice pressed insistently one last time and broke away before the kiss got too heated, resting her forehead against the redhead's. "That's true. But, I'm here now. So have a little faith in me." She placed another soft kiss to Claire's forehead and walked away, toward the fire by which Casey was sitting.

Claire watched her leave, still relishing in the taste of the older woman's lips upon hers. She hardly noticed when Carlos nudged her in the side, K-Mart close behind. "Well, that was cute."

She smacked him. "Don't even think about it."

He shrugged innocently. "What? I think you're cute together. Is that a bad thing?"

"Bastard."

He chuckled and threw a muscular arm around her shoulders. "You're lucky it's dark. I can see you blushing all the way over here."

"I'm going to kill you."

K-Mart swatted her on the arm. "Claire! That's not nice."

"I don't care."

"Well, not in the way that you care about Alice, right?" K-Mart asked slyly.

Claire reddened even more. "I…ah! I can't believe you two are gaining up on me."

"It's all out of love, Claire. Besides, Carlos is right. You two are absolutely adorable together!" the teen squealed. "I'm so glad you found someone."

"I don't get why this is such a big deal."

K-Mart rolled her eyes. "Because! You spent so long looking after everyone else, making sure they were happy. I was so worried you'd never be happy yourself. And then Alice came, and suddenly you were smiling a lot more, and just in an all-around better mood!"

Claire smiled embarrassedly. "I hadn't realized I was being so obvious."

"Yeah! 'Cause, let's admit it, you were kind of a bitch before," K-Mart said knowingly.

Claire's face darkened slightly. "Oh? Was I now?"

K-Mart smiled sheepishly. "Not the best choice of words?"

* * *

Casey looked up as Alice joined her. "Well, that was cute."

Alice frowned at her. "What?"

"Don't play coy. I saw what just happened."

"And?"

"Do you love her?"

Alice faltered at Casey's brash words. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"It's not rocket science, Alice. Do. You. Love. Her?"

Alice took a seat on the ground and stared into the fire. "I…I think so."

"Hmm, I thought so. What are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

Casey sighed. "You are planning on telling on her, aren't you?"

"It's not that easy, Case. Love…it isn't cut and dry, it's not mathematical; it's wild and passionate, and can leave you feeling breathless," Alice said wisely.

"I don't understand. If you love someone, shouldn't you tell them? And with the world as it is now, isn't it better to be as happy as you possibly can with someone that you love, especially if you were lucky enough to find it in the first place?"

Alice chuckled. "Trust you to have such a logical perspective on something like love."

Casey shrugged. "I'm sorry. Isaacs didn't really get complicated on things like feelings and emotions. I've only had a couple of ideas to form opinions of my own."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You're absolutely right. I will tell her. Soon, I promise. I just need some time."

"What do you need time for?"

"Trust me. When you get the chance to feel this way, you'll understand."

* * *

"Hey, Jill."

The woman simply stalked past Casey with a scoff, headed for the big truck from which Mikey was handing out dinner.

Casey frowned lightly at the lack of response, but shrugged and continued on her way toward Alice and Claire. "Why does Jill seem to hate me so much?" she asked as she took a seat on the ground.

The pair looked up from the map they'd been poring over. "What's that?"

Casey jerked a thumb behind her. "Jill. Every time I say hi or wave, she just scoffs and gives me a look like I'm something she found on the bottom of her boot."

Claire raised an eyebrow at Casey's use of words. "Well, you do know what happened between her and Alice, right?"

"Of course," Casey replied. "Isaacs imprinted me with virtually everything that's happened."

"So then you know that I killed her. And Angie," Alice continued sadly. Claire placed a consoling hand on Alice's back.

Casey nodded again. "Yeah, I know. But that has nothing to do with me. I'm not the one who pulled the trigger, you did."

Alice flinched almost imperceptibly at Casey's casual reminder. She shook her head; Casey wasn't being malicious. She truly didn't understand the nature of humans and their many, complex emotions. Not yet, anyway. "I know, Casey. She just can't seem to differentiate between the two of us, at least not yet. Give her time, she'll come around and see that we're clearly different people."

"I guess. Or maybe I should talk to her? Try to figure out what's going on in her head."

"I don't know if that's the best idea, Casey," Claire tried to dissuade.

But Casey's mind was made up. She got to her feet quickly. "I'll go see her now."

The blonde started off toward the truck, where Jill was sitting with K-Mart and Carlos. Claire turned to Alice, who was watching her younger sister go with an unreadable look on her face. "Well? Aren't you going to try to stop her? Jill could tear her apart."

Alice grinned at the redhead. "Physically, Casey is superior to Jill. And her unwavering honesty will definitely come out on top. Besides, this was bound to happen at some point. Jill needs to let go, and move on."

Claire shook her head. "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

"You love it."

* * *

"Jill?"

The woman in question did not look up, knowing already exactly who it was. She also didn't respond. Both K-Mart and Carlos were looking between her and Casey in an almost comical fashion.

Casey sighed. "Jill, please. We need to talk."

Jill continued to say nothing as she began to stab her fork into her can with much more force than before.

"Alright, but I don't think you'll really want everyone to hear what I came to talk about."

Jill glared up at Casey. "Fine," she ground out. She stood up and shoved past the other woman, starting to walk a ways away from everyone else. Casey gave a quick smile to both Carlos and K-Mart before following.

"What do you want?" Jill snapped as soon as Casey was near.

"I want to know exactly what it is I did to earn the cold shoulder you've been giving me," Casey said.

Jill's eyes narrowed. "You know exactly what you did."

Casey cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Because the earliest thing I can remember is being broken out of my…cage back in Isaac's lab, by Alice. Anything before that is really hazy, but I'm pretty sure I was in that sphere for all of it."

"You…" Jill had no response. She was slightly taken aback by the other woman's complete honesty. No lies, no dodging, she got straight to the point. Jill figured that was all she knew how to do at this point.

Casey took a step closer. "Alice was the one who killed you, not me. I've done nothing to you. Nothing to deserve the treatment you've been giving me."

At Jill's lack of a response, Casey plowed on. "And speaking on the subject of Alice, you really need to let that go."

Jill snapped at her indifference. "Let it go?! She fucking _killed _me!"

Casey shook her head. "It wasn't her, and you know it. Do you honestly believe that Alice would have actually shot you? Or Angie? She loved that little girl. And she loved you, more than you deserved, it seems."

"Wh-what?"

Casey snorted. "I guess she never told you. Apparently, she has some issues about admitting her feelings to others. Yes, she loved you." Casey cast a glance toward Alice and Claire. "Although, it would seem that love has changed into that for a close friend."

"Did she tell you that?" Jill's voice was quieter now.

"No. I figured it out. It's clear that she did. I can see it when she looks at you. There's something in her eyes that speaks volumes. The way she used to look at you, though, is how she now looks at Claire. I'm sure you can see it too. She may not love you the same way, but she still loves you. Even an idiot would know that."

"I…" Jill slowly fell to her knees. Immediately, Casey was at her side, an arm around her shoulders.

"Jill? Are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No…thank you, Casey."

Casey's eyes widened. "Uh, you're welcome?"

Jill laughed lightly. "I can't believe it took me this long to…" She shook her head and rose to her feet. "I need to go to her. Tell her that…I'm sorry." She took Casey's hand in her own and squeezed it tightly. "I owe you for this."

Casey nodded, dumbstruck. "Yeah, no worries." She hadn't expected Jill to change her demeanor so quickly. She guessed that Jill had secretly wanted to let go, but just needed the means.

And Casey gave that to her.

* * *

Alice looked up. "Jill? What's going on?"

"Stand up," Jill said, more forcefully than she wanted. Quickly, she softened her voice. "Please."

Alice nodded and stood. "What do you need?"

Jill pulled her into a crushing hug. "I need my best friend back. Both of them."

Alice was momentarily stunned. Slowly, her hands inched up to return the hug, albeit not as hard. "Are you okay?"

She could feel Jill nod a response into her shoulder. "I'm okay. I just…I want to say I'm sorry." Her response was muffled, but Alice easily understood her. She pulled back, keeping a hand on Jill's shoulder. "You're sorry?"

"I am. It took Casey giving me a thorough talking-to to figure it out, but I am. I'm sorry for acting like such a bitch to you." She looked over Alice's right side at Claire. "And to you, Claire."

Claire shrugged. "It's alright. I figured you needed some time."

Alice squeezed the hand she had on Jill's shoulder. "And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for pulling the trigger. I'm sorry for not being strong enough to resist."

Jill covered Alice's hand with her own. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I know firsthand what's it's like to have Umbrella controlling your every move. You can't fight back. I realized this right away, but my anger erased any rational thinking."

"I understand. I'm just glad that you're okay."

Jill smiled. "Yeah, it's nice to be feeling like my old self again. Letting go was just so freeing."

"Well, hopefully things can go back to normal," Claire spoke up.

Jill walked over and lightly punched Claire in the arm. "For sure! I can go back to annoying the hell out of you like a proper overprotective older sister."

Claire rolled her eyes amusingly. "Oh, joy. Remind me to kill Casey later, would you?"

* * *

Once it was decided that Arcadia was their next destination, the convoy immediately set out to plot a course to Alaska. It had been a couple of days since Casey's confrontation with Jill, but once that was dealt with, everything returned to normal.

Or, at least as normal as anything could possibly get, given the circumstances. The only problem so far, Alice noted, was that some members of the convoy were wary of Casey. They had never seen a clone before and had no idea what to think.

Mostly, it was just underhanded whispers and sharp glares, but two men in particular were starting to become far more vocal, and violent, whenever Casey was around. Alice wasn't sure how much longer she would allow it to go on before she savagely ripped these men apart, but she was doing her best to curb her fury for the sake of the others.

They had stopped in Oregon, in a place once known as Klamath Falls for the rest of the night. Then, once dawn hit, they'd head to Ruston, Washington, a drive that would hopefully take less than half a day.

Everyone had set up camp for the evening, and Alice found herself eating dinner with K-Mart, Jill, Claire, Casey and Carlos. This was how it normally was; everybody had their own little groups they stuck with, and hers consisted of those she considered family.

"You know, I remember this place," K-Mart spoke up.

"Did you live here?" Casey asked.

K-Mart shook her head. "No, I was born and raised in Illinois. But we vacationed here once, and stayed in Klamath Falls." She took another bite of food and waited until she had fully swallowed to continue. "My parents had always wanted to visit Oregon, and my dad picked this place to stay in. Unfortunately, we came during the summer, and summers here involve this really annoying bug. I forgot what the name was and they're harmless because they don't actually have mouths or anything, but there were _so many_! There were swarms of them all over the place. And at night, you could especially see them because they'd fly toward the light. I remember I was so annoyed with my dad." She looked toward the setting sun. "I would always bring it up at one time or another to make him buy me things, and I don't think he ever stopped apologizing for it, not even when…"

Her words trailed off, and she stared into her can of food. The others knew tears must have not been far behind.

Casey instantly placed a consoling hand on her arm. "You don't have to talk about it."

K-Mart looked at her. A few tears ran down her cheeks, but she was smiling. "No, I'm alright. I needed to talk about it. I've been trying so hard to forget all of the memories, because they hurt so much at times. But, talking about it now, it makes me laugh because I can still remember the look on my mom's face when we stepped out of the car to go into the hotel and the bugs were all over the front doors." Her smile widened into a full-blown grin. "I know now that remembering who they were, instead of what they became, is one of the best ways I can honor their memory."

Casey smiled softly at her in response and took her arm back. "Well, do you have any other stories, then? I'd love to hear them."

Alice closely observed Claire as the redhead watched K-Mart begin to animatedly depict the time her family, along with her cousins, had spent two weeks in Australia. The look on Claire's face was a mixture of sadness, happiness, relief and pride, with a small touch of annoyance. She laughed to herself; she knew exactly what the redhead must have been thinking at that exact moment.

"We've got a question, if y'all would oblige."

Claire's head snapped to the two men approaching and she sighed heavily. "Yes, Shane? What do you want?"

Shane pointed a finger at Casey, who calmly regarded him. "How long are we gonna have to travel with…_this_ exactly?"

Immediately, the faces of everyone in the small circle wore the same mask of anger. "Just get out of here, Shane," Carlos snarled. "And take your brother with you."

Shane's brother smiled crookedly. "What's the matter, _Carlos_? I thought you and I was friends."

Carlos shook his head forcefully. "We were never friends, Merle. You're an asshole, and a racist."

Merle dropped the smile and he glared at Carlos. "You'd better watch yourself, you fuckin' wetback. No one talks to me like that."

K-Mart stood up. "Well, he just did! Why don't you two leave us alone? We're not bothering you."

Shane stepped dangerously close to K-Mart, who wavered slightly at the proximity, but stood her ground. "So the little bitch wants us to leave her alone? Tell ya what, girlie. You and you sister join me an' Merle in our tents, we can have a little fun." He grinned lecherously at Claire. "We'll leave you and your little freak alone forever."

Claire unsheathed her gun, stepped protectively in front of K-Mart, and clicked the safety off while leveling it at Shane's forehead, all in the span of a few seconds. "I'll tell _you_ what, Shane. If you and your repulsive sibling don't walk away in the next five seconds, I'll fucking blow your brains out!"

Shane chuckled and stepped slightly closer. "Gonna shoot us, Claire? I don't think you've got the balls, figuratively speaking."

She aimed the gun downward and squeezed the trigger. Shane jumped back as the bullet struck the cement. She brought the pistol back up and smirked. "Next one will be higher if you don't get the fuck out of here."

Shane cursed and spat on the ground near Claire's feet. He went to move even closer, believing Claire to be bluffing. She quickly threw a right hook at his face, and it connected with a resounding _crack! _He stumbled backward, cradling his nose, from which blood was flowing freely. "Crazy bitch!" he screamed.

She stepped menacingly toward him. "Try it again. Give me a reason, I'm begging you."

He spat some blood on the ground and glared daggers at her, but ultimately turned and walked away, Merle close on his heels. As the brothers went to return to their spot, Merle called back over his shoulder. "Y'all best be careful now! I'd hate for any of ya to turn out like the stupid nigger back in Vegas!"

"They aren't going to be a problem, are they?" Alice asked.

Claire put her gun back in its holster and watched the two men skulk off with her arms crossed. "I don't know for sure, but if they try to pull anything, we'll be ready." She turned around and regarded Casey closely. "Casey, you doing okay?"

Casey nodded. "I'm fine. I do my best not to let assholes like that get to me."

"Good. They should leave you alone from now on."

"I hope so." Casey cracked her knuckles and grinned. "But, if they try to cross the line, I think I'll be more than adequately able to put them in their place."

* * *

Later that night, Jill found herself unable to sleep. So, as quietly as she could, she crept out of the Carlos' truck and landed softly on the cement. There was a gentle breeze flowing, and she enjoyed the way it sent shivers coursing through her body. When she had been under the control of Umbrella, she wasn't able to feel things like that.

It was nice to feel more human again. She was beyond ecstatic to be rid of that infernal bug that had been attached to her chest for longer than she wished to remember. But the T-virus was still making a host out of her body; Alice had explained that instead of the virus bonding with her, her body was fighting it.

Alice.

Sometimes, she wondered what would have happened if she'd allowed herself to fall more deeply for the older blonde. Due to the circumstances, what with the T-virus destroying virtually everything, she didn't believe the two of them would be around each other enough to warrant those kinds of feelings. She didn't want to be hurt if Alice died, nor did she want Alice to be hurt if she herself ended up dead.

She had cared about her far too much to allow even the possibility of that happening. Maybe, if she'd had more faith in Alice and her abilities, things would have been different. Maybe if she'd fought harder, Umbrella wouldn't have been able to take control of the super-powered blonde. Maybe then, she wouldn't have been shot. And Angie wouldn't have been…

She shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts. She had spent far too long being angry at Alice for things that were out of the blonde's control. Even with all of her powers, she was still human.

And Umbrella was able to take full control of her as if she were nothing more than a puppet, waiting for someone to take up the strings.

She crossed her arms into herself as she slowly walked toward the fire she could see burning. Maybe she should warm herself up. Who knows, she may even be able to sleep.

As she got closer, she heard muted voices. Claire's Hummer was parked near the fire, so she used the gas-guzzling vehicle as cover. She knew eavesdropping probably wasn't the best idea, but hey, she was only human, right?

"…you think?"

She peered past the trunk to try and identify the speakers; it was Alice and Claire. Somehow, she wasn't surprised that the two women had found a way to be alone.

Claire was nodding. "They pose a huge potential threat, not only to Casey, but to the entire convoy in general."

"But, killing them? Are you sure?"

"Trust me, as much as I hate those two men, killing them is not top on my list. But, I have the safety of everyone here to think about. And the safety of the convoy far exceeds my own morality."

"If you say so…" Alice didn't sound entirely convinced, in Jill's opinion.

Claire's eyes softened, and she went to take a seat next to the older woman. As she sat, she lightly nudged her in the side. "What's going on? You don't sound convinced." Jill smirked to herself; the redhead had stolen the words right out of her thoughts.

Alice's eyebrows furrowed. "I just worry about the burden you take upon yourself as the leader of this group, that's all."

Claire chuckled lightly. "You don't need to worry about me, Alice. I was doing this for a couple of years before you showed up. I know my limitations."

Alice looked her dead in the eye. "Do you?"

Claire returned the hard look. "Yeah, I do. Do you honestly believe I could've lasted this long if I didn't?"

Alice didn't respond for quite a few seconds, simply gazing into the crystal blues of the other woman she knew she loved. Then, she laughed quietly. "No, I supposed not." Her laughter died almost as quickly as it was given birth. Slowly, she reached out a hand and cupped Claire's cheek. "You are so beautiful," she murmured.

Claire blushed at the sincerity. "Y-you think so?"

Alice nodded. "I do. But, you're not only beautiful because of your face. It's also your heart. You're brave, fearless, strong-willed, stubborn as a bull," Claire chuckled at this, "kind, generous, charismatic, and smart."

Claire couldn't look Alice in the eyes anymore; the gaze was too intense. "You…don't have to say anything else, Alice."

Alice gently tugged Claire's face back to look in her eyes again. "Did I say something wrong?"

Claire took Alice's hand in her own and intertwined their fingers. "No, you didn't. I just…all this time, I've never allowed myself to develop a relationship of this sort. Not with anyone. And believe me, there were certainly worthy candidates, especially in the beginning. I thought that if I was to be the leader, I couldn't become attached to anyone. I needed to put the others first."

She paused and looked at the ground, trying to gather the courage to say what was truly on her mind. Alice simply waited patiently, rubbing her thumb over their joined hands.

"But you…you came along with your amazing powers and your wisdom and your selflessness. And you changed everything. I don't know what it was, but with you around, I felt like I could just be me again. I hadn't even known you for all of a day, and already I trusted you with not only my life, but with the lives of everyone here. I could take off the armor I'd been wearing for so long."

She looked up into Alice's serene gaze and almost lost herself in the pools of green. "I don't believe in God anymore. I don't know if I believe in much of anything anymore. But…I believe in you. You were brought to us, and I thank my lucky stars every minute for it."

She hadn't been able to say what she really wanted, not yet, but Alice seemed to understand. The older woman leaned forward and connected their lips in a kiss of heated passion. Claire dropped their intertwined hands and used both of her own to cup Alice's face while simultaneously pushing her back into the log they were both leaning against. One of Alice's arms wrapped around her waist, while the other tangled itself in the beautiful red locks.

Jill quickly looked away. It wasn't right to watch their tender moment. It wasn't like she wanted to anyway.

As she began to walk back to Carlos' truck, a single tear slowly traveled down her cheek.

* * *

Alice awoke feeling rejuvenated; she had the feeling last night's events were the cause of that. Looking down, she saw Claire resting atop of her, each breath blowing a lock of her red hair to flutter into Alice's face.

She could see that the sun was just beginning to rise, which meant that the convoy would be awakening soon. To spare Claire the embarrassment of being discovered in such an intimate position in public, she gently shook the redhead to wake her up.

"Claire?" she spoke softly. "You need to get up."

Claire groaned quietly. "Five more minutes…"

Alice chuckled. "Alright, if you want everyone else to see us."

Claire's head snapped up and she took in the position she was in. She smiled sheepishly at Alice before using her as a crutch to get into a sitting position. "We should probably get everyone up."

Alice nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."

Claire went to stand, but hesitated and looked back at Alice with a guilty look. "Last night…I didn't know how to say…"

Alice silenced her with a finger on the lips. "Don't worry about it. I can wait until you're ready." She gave Claire a soft peck on the lips before standing up. "I'll go get K-Mart. Her loud voice will be helpful."

Claire watched the blonde walk away. She didn't know how it was that she got so lucky to have Alice, but now there was no way in hell she'd let her go.

Inside the Hummer, Alice was fighting a losing battle with getting K-Mart to wake up. "K-Mart, come on!"

Claire heard Alice's desperate cries and went to help the poor woman out. Approaching her beloved vehicle, she smacked the bottom of the trunk where K-Mart was curled up. "You'd better get your ass in gear, K-Mart, unless you want me to tell Alice your precious 'secret'!"

Immediately, K-Mart was up and using both Alice's and Claire's shoulder to propel herself out of the trunk. She glared halfheartedly at Claire before making her rounds. Alice looked confusedly at Claire as the teen stalked off. "What 'secret'?"

Claire laughed. "I'll tell you one day. For now, we need to get moving; I want to be in Ruston by late afternoon."

True to Claire's desire, they were able to reach the outskirts of what was once Ruston by around two o'clock. Claire's Hummer was in the lead, followed by Carlos' truck, along with the rest of the vehicles.

"_Do you guys see that?"_ Jill's voice crackled over the radio. Alice stuck her head out of the passenger side window to look at the sign Jill was talking about.

"What's it say?" Claire asked.

Alice's face was torn between doubt and relief. "You'll see," was all she responded.

Not a minute later, the Hummer was close enough that Claire could easily see the sign in question. Crudely handmade, the sign was nailed to two wooden posts and the words were written in large white letters. It read,

THERE IS NO INFECTION HERE. PLEASE HELP US.

* * *

**A/N: And there we go. An extra-long chapter for you guys, cause I loves ya! I know I said in the Author's Note at the beginning that I haven't decided about Jill and K-Mart, but in the process of writing this, I decided. So….**

**K-Mart will be paired with Casey, and Jill shall be paired with a character that will be making an appearance either next chapter or the one after that. I wonder if any of ya can guess? ^.^**

**BYEEEEEEE!**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. Who can guess where I stole Shane and Merle from? You'll get virtual cookies...and maybe something else. Like a featured O.C. or something, I don't know _**


	10. Prelude

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own any of this chizz. We've been through this before, and it still makes me real sad…**

**Rating: M ( :D )**

**P.S. Howdy, y'all! How you doing? As for me, well, life has been treating me pretty damn good, pretty damn good indeed. Hope that's the same for the rest of you, and if it's not, just know that you have this juicy, tasty, scrumptious (that's a lot of synonyms) chapter to brighten your lousy (presumably :D ) day!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Prelude**

* * *

Claire sighed and ran a hand through her red locks. "Well, the sign says it's free of infection. I just don't know if it's true. The only way to find out is to actually look around."

Alice nodded. "I'll go. And I'll take Casey. We can do a quick runaround and see if it's all clear. If it is, we'll radio you. If not…well, you'll know."

"I don't know. We have no idea what we'll find."

"That's why sending Casey and I is the safest bet. If it turns out there are Infected running around, she and I are the best equipped to handle it."

Claire looked like she was ready to argue, but stopped and slowly nodded. "Fine. But, if there's any sign of trouble, and I mean _any_, you'd better let us know right away so we can help."

"What kind of trouble do you think we could possibly get into?" Casey smirked.

Claire crossed her arms and glared at the younger twin. "Well, knowing Alice, I'd say a hell of a lot. Add you to the mix and, well, I've got a good reason to be concerned."

"We'll be in and out, promise."

"I want to believe that. Just, please be careful."

Alice smiled and gave Claire a quick kiss. "Why so worried?" She and Casey headed toward the town before Claire had a chance to retort.

"I take it you haven't told her yet," Casey commented as they walked across the grass toward the first house.

"Not yet. But, I will soon, if she doesn't already beat me to it," Alice replied.

"Beat you to it?"

Alice nodded while slowly opening the front door. She quickly checked the corners, her aim on her pistol steady. "She almost said it last night, but wasn't able to. I understood, though." She lowered the pistol. "This one is clear."

Casey took a deep breath. "You know, I'm not sensing any Infected around here. I think that sign was telling the truth."

"Yeah, you may be right. But still, we should try to find people before returning to the others." Alice holstered her pistol, but kept a hand on it in case she needed to draw quickly.

Casey started looking around. It was all houses surrounding their immediate area; she could tell there were people in some of them. They were doing their best to stay quiet, but with her hypersensitive hearing, Casey could easily hear them. "Some of these houses have people in them. Maybe there's a town hall or something where we could find whoever is in charge?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

The two women started walking toward what they figured was the center of town. As they neared the main building, Casey could sense people emerging from the houses, craning to get a good look at the newcomers. She could understand their eagerness, as well as their wary apprehension; it had probably been a long while since they laid eyes on another human, let alone two that looked exactly alike.

In the center of the town was another house. This one, however, was much larger and well-fortified; Casey bet that whoever was in charge of this group of survivors probably made a home there. Sure enough, as they approached, the majority of the rest of the survivors in tow, a woman emerged from the home. She was Hispanic, and had long brown hair. She was dressed in a white flowing tank top, a tan denim jacket, green cargo pants, and brown combat boots. Casey frowned as she approached. She knew this woman…

She turned to Alice to tell her, but Alice was staring openly at the brunette. She blinked rapidly as the woman came to a stop in front of them. "R-Rain?" she managed to get out.

Not too long after she said it, Casey noticed that Alice's right pupil began to glow red. She went to grab at her, but Alice was gone in an instant, immediately bowling Rain over and pinning her to the ground, hands gripping her throat harshly.

Casey heard the telltale click of many guns being cocked and aimed at Alice. She took a deep breath and concentrated on the weapons; one by one, each was forcibly aimed toward the ground, several shots firing off in a row. The noise seemed to partially snap Alice out of her fury. Her hands slackened their grip slightly, and Rain was able to rasp in a few gulps of air.

Alice was now glaring at Rain, but there was more confusion and sadness than actual rage. "Why?" she growled. "Why are they doing this to me? This is just fucking sick!"

Casey took Alice by the shoulders and pulled her off of Rain. She looked deeply into Alice's eyes; the right pupil was still red, but it was more of a subdued hue now. "What the hell was that?"

Alice raised a finger to point at Rain. "She's dead. I shot her in the head myself." She removed Casey's hands from her shoulders and shook her head. "Umbrella is taking this too far."

"I can understand your confusion," Rain finally spoke up. "I'm not Rain, not exactly."

"I know, I know. You're a clone," Alice replied. Her words carried a level of fatigue in them.

"Model Fifteen, to be exact."

"Great," Alice said sarcastically. At Rain's frown, she sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired of Umbrella doing this everywhere I turn."

"Doing what, exactly?"

Alice threw her hands out exasperatedly. "This! Not only you, but Casey here is a clone of me. They were also able to bring Jill back from the dead! They're doing it in purpose, to try to break me down emotionally, and I'm sick of it!" Her right pupil began to glow red again, so Casey stepped to her and placed a consoling hand on her back.

"Alice, you need to calm down. Whatever Umbrella's doing, you can't blame it on anyone else but Umbrella. You can't turn your anger on them."

"I know." Alice looked at Rain. "I'm sorry about what I did. It was nothing against you; I just saw your face and kind of lost it."

Rain shrugged. "I get it. I figured the safest thing to do was let you ride it out, rather than try to resist."

"That was strategic."

"Yeah, well, I didn't get to be the leader of this town for my good looks," Rain joked. Growing serious, she regarded the twins curiously. "I'm assuming you came here about the sign?"

Casey nodded. "Yes. It mentioned that you were free of infection. We wanted to clarify before bringing in the others."

"Others?" Rain raised her eyebrows. "How many others?"

"About twenty five or so," Alice answered. "We've got our own weapons and supplies, so you don't have to worry about that."

Rain smiled widely. "Really? So many of you? We'd be glad for you to stay with us."

"Actually, we weren't planning on staying. We were headed to Alaska."

"Headed for Alaska? You guys trying to find Arcadia too, huh?"

"How do you know about Arcadia?"

"They've been broadcasting a message for days now," Rain said casually. "We were actually debating on whether or not to head there ourselves. Maybe we can help each other out."

Alice nodded slowly. "Let me get our other people, and we can talk."

* * *

"Another clone? Seriously? How does Umbrella find the time to do this?" Claire asked as Alice and Casey led her and the rest of the convoy toward the town.

"That's a fantastic question," Alice muttered under her breath.

Claire quickly halted Alice in her tracks. "Hey. Are you sure you're alright? I can only imagine how hard this must be on you."

Alice shrugged Claire's hand off of her shoulder. "No, I'm not okay. But thanks for asking." She walked to the head of the group, intending to lead them in the right direction.

Claire paused in her footsteps, her hand hanging in empty air. She lowered it slowly, her heart aching for the pain she could see in the older woman.

Casey witnessed the spectacle and walked up to join Claire. "You know she doesn't mean to be so cold."

Claire nodded. "I know. I just wish I could do more to help her. It breaks my heart to see her in so much pain. Umbrella just won't leave her alone."

"Yeah, and there's also something else."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she attacked the clone of Rain, as I'm sure you know. While that in itself was a little out of character for her, I noticed that her right pupil started to glow red. That's never happened before, has it?"

"Glowed red?" Claire shook her head. "No, I've never seen that happen to her. What do you think it means?"

Casey let out a long breath. "If I had to take a guess, and I really hope I'm wrong, I would say that the T-virus in her is mutating."

"Mutating? Why?"

"I couldn't tell you. The strand that Isaacs injected into me was different, yes, but I don't think Alice got it as well…unless…" Casey trailed off, staring at Alice thoughtfully. "I need to have a chat with her, I think. I have a hypothesis as to what happened, and if I'm right, it could be potentially problematic."

* * *

"Mutating?" Alice was in disbelief. "Can the T-virus in me even do that?"

"Possibly," Casey started. "If another strand was introduced into your body, then it is very possible."

"Another strand? I haven't been injected with another strand."

"When you fought Isaacs, did you get cut at all?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. He blasted me through a wall, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. At any point, did he bleed on you?"

Alice thought for a moment. "Well, his body was mutated pretty harshly. There were quite a few open sores on his body, along with a couple wounds that I was able to inflict. So, he may have. I didn't really have a lot of time to pay attention to that."

"Okay…I would say that he did. If he was as mutated and such as you say he was, I think the chances of him bleeding on you and his blood getting into an open cut on your body was pretty high. So, my hypothesis is as follows: Isaacs injected not only me with this new strand of the virus, but also himself. As such, when he bled on you, the new strand entered your body and started mutating the one already there. That was why your eye turned red, and why you've become slightly more aggressive."

Alice frowned. "Well, if he injected you too, why aren't you like that?"

"Number one, your body has hosted the T-virus for years now, so it is much more in tune with your nervous system, allowing the mutation to happen that much quicker. And number two, since technically only a couple of weeks old, my body hasn't really accustomed to the virus. Give me several months, maybe a couple of years, and I may very well be the same," Casey explained.

"Well, what do I do?" Alice asked. Her voice carried a slightly worried tone.

"Relax, Alice. In my opinion, you don't really have all that much to worry about. You've lived with the virus and its…drawbacks for quite a few years now. You'll just have to watch your temper a little more closely from now on."

Alice chuckled. "Only that, huh?"

Casey clapped her older twin on the back. "Yeah, so I can only imagine how hard that'll be for you."

Alice punched her in the shoulder. "Watch yourself."

"And just what're you gonna do if I don't?"

Alice gave her a feral grin. "I don't think you want to find out."

Casey just shook her head and laughed. "I'm shaking in my boots. Come on, we should get back to the others." She looked at Alice knowingly. "And I believe you have a certain redhead to apologize to."

"Yeah, that may just be a good idea," Alice teased as they walked back toward the group.

"Well, if you still plan on consummating your relationship with her, I would suggest doing just that," Casey said casually.

"Uh, that's not something you should share with anyone. Or ever say out loud again. Ever."

"Did I embarrass you?"

"No, it's just not something people normally talk about. Out loud, anyway."

"Say what out loud?" K-Mart asked innocently as the twins rejoined her, Claire, Jill and Carlos.

"Oh, just about Alice and Claire having-." Casey was swiftly cut off by Alice's hand over her mouth. Claire blushed heavily, while Carlos guffawed, Jill snorted, and K-Mart giggled. "Oh! Well, that's certainly interesting, to say the least."

"What did I just say?" Alice scolded Casey.

Casey shrugged. "What? We're among friends."

"Doesn't matter!"

K-Mart grabbed Casey by the hand and started pulling her toward Rain. "Come on, Casey. And you too, Jill and Carlos. We should, um, go ask Rain about…something."

"Huh? No, no, I wanna hear this," Carlos said. Jill lightly smacked him on the arm before pulling him along. "Let's go, Olivera."

That left Claire and Alice looking everywhere but at one another. Eventually, Alice sighed and looked directly at the redhead. "Hey, I'm really sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to be so cold."

"It's okay. I can understand, what with everything that just got dumped on your plate, again. So, did you and Casey come to a conclusion?"

Alice nodded. "She thinks that during our fight, Isaacs bled on me and his blood introduced a new strand of the virus into my body, one that's mutating the one that's already there."

Claire's eyes widened. "Holy shit. Are you going to be alright?"

"Casey seems to think so. She just said I'll have to be more careful with my temper."

Claire chuckled. "That should be something."

Alice feigned insult. "I don't know why everyone thinks I can't keep my temper under control! That hurts my feelings, you know."

"Oh?" Claire's voice grew sultry and she fixed Alice with a long look that could definitely be defined as sensual. She sauntered up to the older woman and placed a delicate hand on the open area of her chest. Her other hand trailed a path that left Alice's skin on fire through her thin shirt up her abdomen, coming to rest on the back of the older woman's neck. "Have I hurt your feelings?" She leaned in close, her lips brushing against Alice's and their breath mixing. "We can't have that, can we?"

Warmth began pooling in Alice's lower stomach and she brought her own hands up to rest on Claire's waist, her fingers dipping under the shirt to gently massage the skin underneath. "Well, how do you plan to make it up to me?" she asked huskily.

Claire pushed her lips against hers, insistent. The kiss, initially playful, was slowly beginning to give way to passion, something both women realized but did nothing to fight against. It was only due to Alice subconsciously remembering they were not exactly in the best of positions to give in. She regretfully pulled away, but kept her forehead pressed against Claire's, her breathing haggard.

_Casey was right, _she thought. Even now, when it wasn't anger, but a loving passion that was filling her, she could feel a dormant aggression bubbling just under the surface.

Something in her was changing, and she wasn't sure she liked it.

* * *

"I don't know if we have enough food and water to last more than a few days," Rain commented. "We'll have to go on another raid soon, otherwise we'll starve."

The man she sat with nodded. "I can get another party organized, no problem."

"I think we can help with that."

They both looked up to find Claire and Jill entering the room, smiles on their faces.

Rain returned the smile, her eyes lingering on Jill before meeting Claire's crystal blues. "What do you mean?"

"Well, not too long ago, Alice helped us out; we were having the same problem you're facing now. She found a shit load, and we were able to pick up most of it. The way I figure, not only can we share our food, but we can help out with any raids you plan in the future."

Rain raised her eyebrows. "You saying you're gonna stay with us?"

Claire nodded. "If the offer still stands, sure."

The Latina stood and stuck out a hand, grinning. "Of course it does. Glad to have you aboard."

Claire shook her hand, followed by Jill. Rain indicated the man she had been talking with before. "This is Daryl, my second in command. He's also in charge of hunting parties; the man's a natural."

Claire stuck out a hand, but Daryl didn't take it. He only scoffed lightly and headed for the door. "I'll be in the armory if you need me, Rain."

Rain chuckled lightly as Daryl left. "Sorry about that. He isn't quick to trust newcomers, but he's a good guy. Just give him a little time to get used to you, he'll come around."

Claire nodded as Rain continued. "Besides, you guys did just come rolling up with his two brothers, so I can understand if he's feeling a bit antisocial."

"What?"

Rain frowned. "Oh, you didn't know? Two of your guys, Shane and Merle, are his brothers. He'd been looking for them for months now."

"So why would he be feeling antisocial? Isn't he happy that they're back?" Jill asked.

Rain grinned at her. "If he told you what he's told me about what they're like, you wouldn't be so happy either."

"Oh, we know, believe me."

"And there you go. But he was worried about them. There's a strong bond between those three, though I ain't exactly sure it's a healthy one, at least not for Daryl." Rain swiped a lock of hair out of her face. "Anyway, I should probably go let everyone know the good news." She nodded at the two other women. "Glad you decided to stay. My people could use some good news."

"So could mine." Claire and Jill followed Rain out the door. After leaving the house, Jill veered off from the other two. "I need to find Carlos," she explained to Claire. "He's insisting on a rematch of our arm wrestle, and I intend to kick his ass again."

Claire laughed. "I hope so. Olivera needs to be brought down to size. And you can tell I said just that when you beat his ass."

"Oh, I intend to. I'll see you guys." She nodded at Claire and smiled softly at Rain, who returned it.

It didn't go unnoticed by Claire. She decided to store that information away for later.

"So, how exactly did you get to be the leader of your merry band of misfits?" Claire asked.

Rain shrugged. "A few days after I escaped from the Umbrella facility I was held at, I was picked up by a small group of them that had gone out for a raid. It only took a couple of weeks before they trusted me enough. I gradually just grew into the role. Besides, the last person that was in charge was a major asshole, so it wasn't a huge loss or anything."

Claire halted and grabbed Rain's arm. "Wait, do they know that you're Umbrella?"

Rain laughed. "Yeah, they do. I had no reason to lie about it, but they accepted me anyway." Claire released the Latina's arm and they continued their walk. "They understood. Umbrella's done some fucked up stuff, so escaping from them just made seem cooler in their eyes or something, I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just wanted to make sure that it was safe to talk about things like that."

"I get you. No worries, everyone here is cool. Even though they know I'm a clone, they still don't really care. They see me as human, not as just some copy or anything." Rain sighed and smiled lightly at Claire. "My bad. I don't mean to drop all this emotional shit on you."

"It's alright." Claire could already see the similarities between Rain and Alice's situation.

"Well, anyway, I got a couple things I gotta do. I'll talk to you later?"

Claire nodded absently, her thoughts elsewhere. "Okay." She watched the Latina walk away for a few moments, before nearly being bowled over by a squealing mass of blonde hair. "Oomph!"

"I just heard the good news! We're staying?" K-Mart asked excitedly.

Claire chuckled and ruffled the teen's hair. "Yeah, we're staying. Why are you so excited?"

K-Mart grew serious. "You're kidding, right? Don't get me wrong, I just _love _being on the move all the time and everything, but settling down for a while has a nice sound to it." She lifted her head off Claire's chest just enough to look the redhead dead in the eye. "Why? Aren't you tired of constantly traveling all the time?"

Claire shrugged. "I guess. I just, I won't know what to do with all the free time."

K-Mart smiled suggestively. "I'm sure Alice can help occupy all those free hours."

Claire glared at the younger blonde, who just smiled innocently. "You know I'm right. I'm not a child, Claire. I know you two are just dying to find enough time to have hot, passionate sex with each other. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't already gone at it like rabbits."

Claire reddened. "K! That's-you're…!"

"Oh, please. Do not try to act all innocent, I can see right through you!" the teen scolded.

"Okay, fine! Yes, we want to have sex with each other. Happy?"

K-Mart wrinkled her nose. "You didn't have to say it."

Claire threw up her hands, exasperated. "What the hell?! Two seconds ago, you were completely fine with spitting it out! Now, you're gonna act like you're completely appalled with just the thought of it?"

"Well, no. It's just…weird when you say it out loud."

"Oh, but it's not when you and Casey do."

"Nope!"

Claire groaned, while her younger sister just laughed and hugged her tighter. "I love you, Claire!"

"Remind me why I keep you around?"

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know, it's been a LOOOONG time! And I'm super sorry for that, but again, college is my life now. Like, no lie. It's actually kinda ridiculous. Things got a little juicier in this one, eh? EH? We will be hitting the sexual stuff very, very soon. It may take a little longer with those, however. I have an extremely perverted mind, and can literally describe the raunchiest scenes with nary a blink, but I tend to be EXTREMELY detailed and rather graphic, which isn't really what I want for this story. So, you'll have to bear with me :D Although, it's not like you guys haven't been doing that already, haha! I loves y'all for being invested in my story; I feel like I just don't tell that to you guys enough. So again, LOVES YA!**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. The Rain clone that I will be using for this story is a combo of the personalities of the 'Good Rain' and the 'Bad Rain' from RE: Retribution. She'll have all the bad –ass moves (along with the actual bad-assery) from 'Bad Rain', but the awesome characteristics of 'Good Rain.' Hope that's cool with y'all. And if it's not, well…I suppose that is rather suckish for you, 'tis it not?**

**P.P.S. I hope y'all don't mind that this chapter was also rather light-hearted. This is the beginning of the next story arc, so things will soon grow rather dark. Fear not, my dear readers.**


	11. A False Sense of Complacency

**Author's Note: *clears throat* …..well, I had a whole impassioned speech written out about how sorry I am for not updating in months and blah blah blah, this this this that, but the longer I think about it (and also in the time period that I'm writing this message) I realized that no excuse would be sufficient. So, I am terribly sorry, my dear readers, and I hope this chapter will be enough to make up for my absence.**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: A False Sense of Complacency**

* * *

"A penny for your thoughts?"

She didn't turn around. "You don't think my thoughts are worth a hell of a lot more than just one pretty penny?"

"That depends. I can't always say I know what's on that mind of yours, but I'm sure for the most part, your thoughts aren't even worth a cent," he joked.

He got a solid punch in the arm as a response. "You're an asshole, Carlos."

He shrugged. "I can be sometimes, yeah. But, so can you, Claire."

She shook her head. "I don't even know why I bother sometimes…"

He nudged her slightly with his elbow. "Yeah, you do. It's 'cause if you didn't, your life would be really boring."

"You mean my life in a fucked-up world, filled to the brim with brain-eating zombies and psychotic human survivors, coupled with a company that cares nothing about the sanctity of human life and continues to experiment with the virus that caused all of this shit in the first place?"

"Like I said, really boring."

She chuckled. "You sure know how to cheer me up, Olivera."

"That's what I'm here for. But seriously, Claire, why are you just sitting around out here?"

She sighed. "…Honestly, I'm at a complete loss. I have no idea what to do with all of this free time."

"Most people would jump over a pool of sharks and through a flaming hoop just to get a fraction of the time we have right now."

"I'm not most people, now am I?"

"That much is true."

"Well, what have you been doing?"

He scratched the stubble on his chin. "Well, after Jill handed me my ass during our last arm wrestling match, I've been training."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Training? What the hell for?"

"For a rematch, duh."

"You're training…for an arm-wrestling rematch," she said slowly.

He nodded. "Yeah. And before you go around knocking it, it serves a dual purpose."

"Which is?"

"Well, the most obvious is that I get strong enough to whoop her ass this time around. The more subtle ones are that I not only stay on my toes and don't let my guard down, but I also get a chance to observe."

"What do you mean, observe?"

"Exactly as it sounds. I don't train in the same area every day; I like to switch it up, you know? I go to different parts of the town to run, to lift, whatever. I get a chance to see what the people here do, how they've survived for so long." He lowered his voice and leaned in closer. "Who's a possible threat, who isn't. Things like that."

She gave him an appraising look. "I'm impressed, Carlos. I didn't peg you for that type."

He frowned slightly at her. "I wasn't always this laid-back, you know. A century ago, I was…different."

"How so?"

"I won't go into details, but let's just say I did things I'm not entirely proud of. I was a mercenary before this, as you know."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that's a great thing about this new shitty world of ours." She clapped him on the back. "It allows us a fresh start, sometimes even a way to make amends for mistakes of the past."

Carlos smiled at her. "I didn't take you as the philosophical type, Red."

She snorted. "Just 'cause I'm a hard-ass, huh?"

"That's only part of it."

"Well, what's the other part?"

"I think that's most of it, actually," K-Mart said as she plopped down on Claire's other side. "You're less of a contemplative type and more of a 'get in your face/kick your ass' type, you know?"

"K, what have I said about cussing?" Claire scolded.

The teen shrugged with a sly grin. "Oh, I don't remember. You know how those teenage hormones go; only one thing is on our mind and we pretty much block out the rest."

The redhead just sighed. "I can't believe you just said that."

"What? I'm sure you went through the same thing. Besides, I'm also rebellious, so I don't listen to you."

"Oh, really? Well, how would you like it if I grounded you? Would you listen then?"

K-Mart snorted. "I'd like to see you try," she said without thinking.

Claire's eyes narrowed. "You really want to see me try?"

K-Mart smiled sheepishly. "Actually, on second thought…"

* * *

"Got a minute, Alice?"

Alice was suddenly reminded of her first real conversation with Claire, but put those thought from her mind to focus her undivided attention on the Latina that had just walked up to her.

"Sure, Rain. What's up?"

"Is this new virus of yours gonna be a problem?" Alice had to hand it to her; the other woman sure didn't beat around the bush.

"Where'd you hear about that?"

"Well, Casey only told me a little, nothing really concrete. But, I was able to put two and two together. From what I can remember, you were never as aggressive as you were with me a week ago."

Alice cocked an eyebrow. "From what you can remember?"

The Latina tapped her temple. "Imprinting. I'm sure Casey has the same thing. Umbrella was consistent in the fact that they imprinted every clone with memories of you. Of course, only your clones got the whole package, so to speak, but the rest of us got enough."

"Hmmm. So every last clone knows about me?"

Rain nodded. "In a sense, yeah. The thing that varies is that each type of clone remembers you in a certain way. Like, your clones would see you both as an older sister and a part of them, whereas Rain's clones would see you as formidable ally." She pursed her lips, thinking. "You know about Becky, I'll assume?"

Alice nodded, her throat painfully tight.

Rain noticed and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Judging by the look on your face, I'll have to say your 'reunion' wasn't the best?"

"You could definitely say that."

"I'm sorry, for what it's worth. Anyway, as I was saying, different types of clones interpret you differently. Becky clones would see you as a mother, as well as Claire."

"They imprinted you with memories of Claire as well?"

"Actually, they didn't. But, seeing as Becky looks exactly like a cross between the two of you, it wasn't too hard to figure out. Only your clones would be imprinted with memories like that. Rain never interacted with Claire before she died, so we have no memories of her. Of course, it'd be child's play to imprint us with memories based off your own, but I guess Umbrella decided that none of us needed them."

"So, who are you imprinted with memories of?"

"You, Carlos, and Jill. Claire and K-Mart never met Rain, so we don't have those. I've also got memories of other people Rain met from her younger days, but that's unimportant in context. The only person that _every _clone has memories of is you."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Yeah," Rain agreed. "You were kind of their poster child, and definitely their most valued asset. I guess they thought that if every clone knew about you, it would up their chances of recapturing you."

"I'm glad they've failed so far."

"I can see why."

* * *

"Stop bein' a little bitch!"

"But Merle, you're talkin' about a full-blown mutiny here! You've seen what Claire can do, and doesn't even have the freakish superpowers that Alice has got!"

"A week ago, you were fine with this! Why you pussyin' out now?"

"I've just been givin' it a lot of thought, that's all!" Shane countered.

"Why you thinkin'? You ain't got enough brainpower for all that!"

"Fuck you."

"Look, I understand what you're sayin' and where you're comin' from, but this is too great an opportunity to pass up! Once we take down the redhead and her collared bitch, the convoy will be ours! And then, I can finally get that fine-ass teen in my bed."

"What if I want K-Mart?"

Merle glared at his brother before smiling widely. "Fuck it, we can both take her. It'll be more fun that way."

"Good thinkin', bro."

The two brothers' heads snapped up as their youngest brother walked into their shared house. "What are you two talkin' about?" he asked.

"None of your damn business," Merle snapped, but Shane held out a hand to placate him.

"Wait, Merle. I think Daryl can be of help to us."

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Merle replied.

"Think about it, he's in deep with the higher-ups in this place. He can tear it down from the inside, sow discord in the ranks, shit like that."

Merle went to argue, but rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, Shane, that may actually work." He turned to his youngest brother. "What do you say, Daryl? Wanna be a part of this?"

Daryl frowned at him. "Well, maybe if you told me what the fuck it is, I could give you an answer."

Merle laughed. "Ha! Spoken like a true Dixon! Well, little brother, Shane and I are plannin' on takin' over Claire's convoy. You want in?"

Daryl froze, staring incredulously at his brothers. "Are you serious?" he finally responded.

Merle nodded. "No shit, else why would we tell you?" He fixed his brother with a hard look. "Well, Daryl? You gonna help us out? We could even take down that wetback in charge around here while we're at it, if you want."

"…I don't know, Merle…"

Merle spit on the floor, inches away from Daryl's boots. "Ah, fuck, Daryl!" He turned to look at Shane. "I told ya he wasn't gonna do it!"

Shane looked thoughtfully up at his younger brother. "Well, why don't you wanna do it, Daryl?"

"Rain…she took me in when I had nowhere to go, after you two off and disappeared on me. She gave me a home, a place to belong to. She trusts me enough as her right-hand man…and I trust her."

Merle shook his head disappointedly. "What have I always told you, little bro? Never trust anyone that ain't family."

"This is different, Merle. Rain is a good woman," Daryl insisted.

Merle opened his mouth to argue, but Shane held up a hand to quiet him. "Merle, just let it alone. If he doesn't want to do it, he don't have to."

Shane then narrowed his eyes at Daryl. "I don't expect you to go along with it, but you better not try and stop us."

Shane stood up and walked to the door, his boots clomping loudly on the wood floors. "If you get in our way, I'll kill you myself."

* * *

K-Mart couldn't be happier. It had been about a week since they'd made the decision to stay in Ruston. She had tons of free time and used it to get herself acquainted with the terrain, as well as the people.

She could see that Claire was having a bit of trouble acclimatizing to the new circumstances, but the teen was sure she'd come around, in time. She'd invited the redhead to go on the daily hunting trips that Alice and Daryl had started taking her on…

Well, she had pouted her way into making Alice take her. Once she'd discovered the older woman would go out into the wilderness to hunt for game, she'd begged Alice to take her with her. She figured this was a good way to get stronger.

Claire didn't seem to like it all that much, but she was basically an adult now. Her birthday was in only a few days and then she would be eighteen. Claire wouldn't be able to baby her anymore, not that she wouldn't try to anyway.

K-Mart jumped slightly when Alice seemingly materialized from one of the thickets of trees she'd walked into. "Ready, K?"

"You've really got to stop doing that, Alice! You're going to give me a heart attack one day!"

Alice smiled innocently at her. "Why, I've no idea what you're talking about."

K-Mart snorted. "Play coy all you want, but one day I'll get you. One day."

"Of course you will, and I await that day with bated breath. Anyway, you good to head out?"

K-Mart checked the crossbow she held, making sure she had enough ammunition and that the mechanisms were in working condition. After assessing all was well, she nodded. "Yup, all good!"

Alice nodded in return. "Now we just have to wait for Daryl."

It was only a minute later that the man in question approached, toting his own larger and more complex crossbow over his shoulder. "What are we waiting for?" he said in greeting, slipping past them to start treading farther into the forest.

Alice frowned slightly before following, and K-Mart had to suppress an eye roll as she trekked after them. Daryl was definitely not the most social type; it didn't help that they'd known each other for all of week. But, he was always nice to her, so it didn't bother the teen too much. He'd also started teaching her how to use a crossbow.

She could see why he preferred the weapon over guns; it was definitely less of a hassle when it came to reloading and there was something satisfying about shooting a bolt through an Infected's eye. It was probably similar to what Alice felt, using her kukri blades, but without the trouble of having to get within arm's reach.

They had to travel slightly further than normal; after a week's worth of killing game, not only had they cut down the amount by a significant portion, but the remaining animals deemed it necessary to flee deeper into the woods in an attempt to escape. She almost felt sad for them.

Up ahead, Alice had taken the lead. Daryl, while initially in front, had slowly started to fall behind, his mind far away.

When K-Mart finally fell into step with him and looked into his eyes, she was surprised to see a lack of focus on anything. Usually, Daryl was the most alert on these hunts.

"Daryl?" she tried. "Are you okay?"

His eyes snapped to her quickly, his features etched in anger before relaxing and offering up a lazy smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She hesitated. Pushing him too hard too soon didn't seem like a great plan. "Are you sure?"

He nodded absently, his eyes already having lost focus again. "Yeah, K. I'm good, no need to worry."

"Okay, just wanted to make sure."

"Thanks for the concern," he grunted.

Ahead of them, Alice held up a hand and motioned them forward, putting a finger to her lips. When they got near, she spoke quietly. "There's a buck about a mile up. K-Mart, would you like the honor?"

She gasped softly. "M-me? I mean, I've only been doing this for a week, and I'd hate to mess it up, not that we'd be lacking for food or anything, but I'd be so embarrassed if I missed or something, and are you absolutely sure?" She sucked in a breath as she finished.

Alice chuckled at her outburst. "Relax, K. Even if you aren't able to take him down, either Daryl or I will pick up the slack, so no worries. Just give it your best try; I think it's time you attempted your first kill."

K-Mart nodded slowly, trying to calm herself and find her center. "Okay. I'll do my best."

Alice pointed in the direction she should head. "Daryl and I will follow behind. We'll be a little ways off, so we don't spook the buck."

"Remember, K-Mart, blend in to your surroundings. Don't take the shot until you're at least ninety-five percent sure you'll hit him. Go for the legs; you aren't experienced enough to know exactly where to hit for a kill, and he'll be easier to finish off if he's maimed first," Daryl advised.

K-Mart nodded again. "Blend in, be precise, aim to maim, then the kill. Got it." She smiled widely. "I just rhymed."

Daryl cracked a tiny smirk before nudging her forward softly. "Go on, then. Good luck."

She tiptoed off. Even with only a week's worth of 'training' she could easily tell where the buck would be, based on tracks. Good thing Daryl was such a fantastic hunter.

She spotted the buck over the rise of a small hill. Quietly, she notched a bolt into her crossbow and inched closer. She was about forty feet away now and hesitated. Should she try to take a shot from here, where her probability was lesser? Or, should she attempt to move closer and risk spooking the buck before ever getting a shot off?

She went for something of a combo of both: she moved forward only a few more feet and took careful aim. Remembering one of Claire's tips, she breathed out slowly and squeezed the trigger as the last bit of air left her mouth.

The bolt whizzed through the air and imbedded itself deep into the buck's back right ankle. He let out a pained cry and tried to run, but the ankle gave out and he fell to the forest floor. He was able to push himself back up and started limping away as fast as he possibly could in his bid to get away.

K-Mart debated whether or not to fire another bolt into the other ankle, but ultimately decided in the negative; the buck was already badly hurt. There was no point in harming him any further.

_He's going to die soon, anyway_, she thought bitterly.

She easily caught up to the limping creature. She took aim at his head and, after sending a quick apology toward the buck, as well as a thought of gratitude for what he would provide, she fired off the second bolt.

It hit the deer square in the back of the head. The animal's body jerked violently before crashing to the ground. K-Mart was slightly disappointed in herself; she had shot him in the back of the head. That was cowardly.

_Oh well. It wasn't as if I was going to waste time circling around to shoot him from the front._

She slung the crossbow over her shoulder and headed for the animal. Kneeling down, she plucked the two bolts from his ankle and head, not looking up when she heard Daryl and Alice approach.

"Nice job, K! You did really well. I'm impressed," Alice mused.

"Not bad," Daryl added.

She shrugged. In her mind, the victory was extremely bittersweet. Maybe she wasn't meant for hunting…

Alice squeezed the teen's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, K, it gets easier," she promised.

She shrugged again. "I'm still wondering if there's going to be a next time, honestly."

Alice nodded. "I understand. Hunting isn't for everybody."

Daryl, meanwhile, had stooped down and scooped up the buck, draping it over his shoulder. He'd handed his crossbow to Alice to make more room. He smiled at K-Mart. "When we get back, want me to show you how to skin it?"

K-Mart dry-heaved.

* * *

There was a soft knock at the door.

"Come in!" she called without looking up.

The door swung open with a light creak and closed much in the same way. She finally looked up to see the blonde-haired woman who'd been on her mind far more often than she should've been. "Jill. What's up?"

Jill shrugged. "Just wondering what you got up to in this office of yours. You've been holed up in here all day, Rain."

She held up one of the papers and Jill squinted at it, making out a few words and a lot of numbers. "What's that?"

"Inventory," Rain answered. "One of my most important jobs as the leader around here is making sure our resources stay in a healthy supply."

Jill nodded. "Understandable." She sauntered up to the desk, picking up a random photo frame, planting her butt in the vacant space. "This anybody you know?"

Rain shook her head. "Nope. Most of the stuff in here doesn't belong to me. It just felt wrong getting rid of everything, you know? 'Sides, it's not as if any of these things are in my way or blocking progress. No point in moving it."

"You superstitious, Rain?"

She chuckled. "Nah, I just don't feel like fucking with dead people's stuff."

Jill laughed. "Sound pretty superstitious to me."

"I would think that's more common sense than anything."

"To us smart individuals, maybe."

Rain reclined in the chair and placed her boots up on the desk. "So, did you just come in here to distract me?"

Jill fixed her with a half-hearted glare. "Are you calling me a distraction?"

"I sure am."

"Well, I figured even a busybody like yourself needed a little break every once in a while."

Rain rubbed at her eyes. "That I do. What'd you have in mind?"

Jill shrugged. "I don't know. We could just talk, maybe?"

"Alright, what about?"

"You pick a topic."

Rain thought for a moment. "How did you get free from Umbrella's control?"

Jill looked slightly surprised. "How'd you know about-?" She paused before nodding slowly. "Imprinting?"

"You know it."

"Well, to be completely honest, it was Alice who broke me free. I attacked her back in Vegas, but she got the upper hand and knocked me out cold. When I came to, I was back in control of my own body."

"Alice rescued you, huh?"

"Yeah, she's got a habit of doing that."

"She's basically a superhero."

"She is in some areas, definitely, but in others, not so much."

"How do you feel about her?"

Jill's eyes snapped to Rain's. "What are you talking about?" Her voice came out slightly harsher than she intended, but Rain shrugged it off.

"It's pretty self-explanatory. I know you two were doing it back when you traveled in Detroit. I was just wondering how that all turned out."

"You sure know how to make this shit awkward."

"Hey, you were the one who said I should pick the topic. I'm just curious, Jill, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, no, it's alright. There's nothing there anymore, not of that. She and I were pretty much best friends before we acted on all that sexual tension. Traveling together in such a fucked up world can forge some pretty strong bonds."

"I know what you mean. Well, are you cool with all of it ending just like that?"

Jill nodded. "Yeah, and even if I wasn't, there's really nothing I could now. Going back to that after all the shit that's happened is unrealistic. And anyway, she's gone off and fallen in love with Claire, who's kind of like a younger sister to me."

"Fallen in love, huh?"

"Oh yeah. You'd have to be blind not to see it. But, I'm happy for them. Alice and I wouldn't have worked out anyway, I don't think. We're too alike in some ways, and too different in others. It would have been an odd mix. It was kind of an odd mix."

"Well, at least you're taking it well. That's something."

"No point in crying over spilled milk," Jill responded dryly. "Besides, there are plenty of other fish in the sea."

"Fish like me?" Rain blurted out without thinking. As soon as she said it, she smacked a hand over her mouth and reddened. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to-."

"No, it's fine." Jill's voice was oddly disconnected and she was suddenly refusing to look anywhere near Rain. "I should go, let you get back to your work. Goodbye, Rain." She hopped off the desk and walked briskly to the door.

"Wait, Jill, I'm-," the door slammed close, "-sorry."

Rain groaned loudly. "Why did I do that? Fuck, she's never gonna talk to me again!"

She stayed in that position for a few minutes, with a hand over her eyes, before someone else knocked.

"What?" she snapped.

The door opened tentatively, revealing Casey's face. "Is this a bad time?"

Rain shook her head, both to placate Casey and to get rid of thoughts of Jill for the moment. "No, you're good. I just fucked up a little, but it's no problem."

"Oh, with Jill, huh?"

Rain stared at her. Casey shrugged indifferently. "What? On my way over here, she was basically running away. What'd you say to her?"

"I'd rather not say, not right now."

Casey shrugged again. "Fine by me. Anyway, there was a reason I came by."

"And what's that?"

"Well, when I was going for a walk around town, I heard some unpleasant things coming from the Dixon brothers' house."

Rain sighed heavily. "This ought to be good."

* * *

**A/N: I know, it's a bit on the short side. Sorry bout it. This was another one of them connecter chapters, so it's shorter than the meatier ones. Worry not, the next shall be longer, by at least a thousand words. I hope you awesome people enjoyed. Late.**

**-DeanneYunFarron**


	12. The First Stage

**Author's Note: No excuses this time. I'll just let you lovely people get to it.**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: The First Stage**

* * *

Rain leaned back in her chair, a hand over her face. "Are you _absolutely _sure about this, Casey?"

Casey snorted. "Well, unless you think my supersonic hearing is faulty somehow, yeah, I'm sure."

Rain ignored the sarcastic comment this time. Normally, she and Casey could go at it for a while, trading friendly blows, but the severity of the situation she was just informed of overrode all time for fun and games. "Have you told Alice, or Claire?"

"No. I figured I should come to you first. Seeing as we're imposing on you, you're technically in charge. Even Claire feels that way."

Rain nodded slowly, a wry smile making its way onto her face. "Well, as much as I hate to admit it, the potential threat from this is a bit much for just me to handle. We're going to need everyone we can get. But, seeing as we don't know who's a part of this 'conspiracy', it can only be people that you _know _you can trust, alright?"

Casey nodded. "Naturally. Shall I bring them here?"

"Yeah. And be quick. The sooner we get shit sorted out, the better."

Casey nodded again and whisked out the room, intent to follow those orders to the letter.

Rain knew she wouldn't have to wait long. Somehow, she could tell that Alice would be the first to find out, and between her and Casey, efficiency and quickness would be no problem.

Unfortunately, in the ten minutes she was left waiting, all she had for company was her thoughts. And they were doing their best to conjure up the worst possible images they could manage. What if someone ended up hurt, or worse, killed? She was no stranger to death, of course, but all the other times, she had never known of what was to happen before hand. Infected attacks tended to happen at inopportune moments, and no one was ever truly prepared.

This, though…this was possibly entirely preventable. She just needed to go about it the right way.

She groaned loudly. "Man, being in charge really sucks ass sometimes…" she mumbled to herself.

"Don't I know it?"

Rain jumped out of her seat, simultaneously pulling her pistol from its holster and aiming it at the source of the noise. After realizing that it was just Casey returning with Alice, Claire, Carlos, Jill, and K-Mart, she replaced the weapon and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm a little on edge right now."

"Understandable. Casey filled us in." Alice took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk and slumped down a little. "I can't believe this. We barely got here and already those two are planning on fucking everything up!"

Claire, who was standing behind her, placed a worried hand on her shoulder. "Alice, you need to calm down."

Alice sighed. "I know, I know. I'm not even sure why it infuriates me so much…"

Casey smirked at her. "Well, actually…"

Both Claire and Alice shot her a look, and she held up her hands in surrender. "I was just saying…"

K-Mart smacked her on the arm lightly. "Casey, this isn't the time!"

Casey nodded solemnly. "Sorry, K. And sorry, Alice." She turned to Rain, all business. "So, what's the plan?"

Rain looked slightly surprised at Casey's rapid change in attitude, but shook it off. "Well, I can only assume that if they're planning a mutiny, they're also planning on taking hostages. That's the best way to force someone into something."

Claire nodded slowly. "Okay…and that sounds just like them. But, who do you think they'll take?"

"Well, they're trying to mutiny against you, right? So, anyone you hold important to you."

"I'm the leader of an entire convoy, everyone is important to me," Claire replied.

"True, but all of us here know there are certain people that are _more _important," Rain emphasized.

Claire fell silent. Jill took advantage of the silence to speak up. "Okay, so we know that they're planning on getting rid of Claire, but what about you, Rain?"

"What about me?"

"You don't think they'll try to overthrow you too?"

Rain thought for a moment. "I wouldn't think so, seeing as they have a problem with Claire, not me, but now that you mention it, I could see them trying to get rid of all of us in one fell swoop."

A loud knock sounded and Rain had her pistol aimed at the door as it opened. Daryl poked his head inside, smirking slightly at the sight of Rain. "You plannin' on shootin' me, Rain?"

Rain rubbed a hand over her face. "Damn it, I'm sorry, Daryl. I'm just a bit jumpy."

He nodded solemnly. "I know. Merle and Shane already told me about their plan, asked if I wanted in."

Rain furrowed her brow, regarding her second-in-command slowly. "What did you say?" As she spoke, she tightened the hand on her gun.

Daryl noticed and shook his head softly. "Relax, I told them I wouldn't do it."

"I can't imagine they were too happy about that," Casey commented.

Daryl fixed her with a hard stare for a few seconds, before sighing in agreement. "Damn right they weren't. Threatened to kill me if I got in the way."

"Shit," Rain whistled. "If they're willing to threaten their own brother, they must be serious."

"So, back to my original question, what's the plan?" Jill asked Rain.

Rain shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to bring it out into the open, because it'll freak everyone out and the chaos could easily grow out of hand. But, I also don't want to sit around and wait for something to happen."

"So, let's just pretend that we don't know anything, but subtly build defenses," Casey suggested. When everyone looked at her thoughtfully, she shrugged nonchalantly. "What? Seems like common sense."

"Maybe to you," K-Mart said. "What kind of defenses did you have in mind?"

"Make sure every potential target is flanked by two armed guards at all times, for start."

"Won't that just draw attention?" Carlos asked. It was the first time he'd spoken; Rain had honestly forgotten he was there.

Casey stroked her chin. "Yeah, that's very true. But, should we just risk it anyway? I can't think of any other way to keep them safe."

Rain turned to Daryl. "You know those two best. What do you think?"

"Well, they didn't tell me the meaty parts of the plan, but I know that their main goal is to get as many people on their side as they can. So unless you have a lot of enemies, I wouldn't worry too much."

Rain sighed. "You're right. The threat is only as big as they can make it. I highly doubt they'll be able to get more than a couple people, from either convoy."

"So, no armed guards?" K-Mart asked.

"No, no armed guards. Now that I think about it, we won't really have to do much. Just be more alert, and stay on your guard, especially at night. Start keeping a weapon under your pillow, start locking your doors. Other than that, go along as if everything's okay," Rain said.

"And if they try to make a move?" Jill asked.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Rain answered. "For now, just lay low and keep your eyes open."

Everyone nodded and began filing out. "Daryl, I need to speak with you alone," Rain called out.

Daryl nodded and waited until the others had left before speaking. "What do you need?"

"Just wanted to see how you're handling all this."

"Just fine, why?"

"That's bullshit, Daryl, and you know it. Be aloof and disconnected all you want, but don't try and lie to me. You owe me more than that."

Daryl sighed. "Fine. I'm not gonna pretend that it doesn't bother me, but I'm not surprised. This kind of stupid shit is exactly like something those two dumb asses would pull."

"Are you going to have any loyalty issues?"

"You know where my loyalties lie, and so do they."

Rain cocked an eyebrow. "Do you?"

"I don't know anymore." With that, Daryl left the office, leaving Rain alone with her tormenting thoughts once again.

* * *

"You'd better not hurt her."

Daryl stopped in his tracks and glared at the source of the voice. "Wanna say that again?"

The woman pushed off the wall she'd been leaning against and got right in his face. "I said, you'd better not hurt her. When everything blows up, you'd better not betray her in favor of those idiotic brothers of yours."

He smirked down at her. "Look at you, gettin' all defensive. You and your friends have been here for what, barely three weeks? And already you're actin' like you've got some claim to her."

"I…" The blonde was at a loss for words.

"I've known Rain for way longer than any of you have. You have no right to come in here and start lecturin' _me_. If anythin', I should be lecturin' you."

She somehow found her voice again. "What exactly could you be lecturing me on? You hardly know me."

"I know you like Rain."

"…"

"Look, I'm not gonna act like some overprotective big brother and start readin' you the riot act. Rain's a big girl and can obviously handle her own problems." He leaned in close to the younger woman. "But, she's one of the most important friends I have. So if you break her heart or fuck with her in any way, I'll shove my crossbow so far up your ass, you'll be spittin' up bolts. Got it?"

She crossed her arms and smirked. "Such hostility. One would almost guess you're jealous."

Daryl snorted. "Hardly. I know she likes women. That was obvious from the start. Besides, she's like a little sister to me."

"How long have you known her, exactly?"

"Long enough," Daryl answered cryptically.

"How long is that?" she pressed.

He shook his head. "I don't have to explain myself to you. We don't know each other well enough for any of that. All you need to know right now is that I'm dead fucking serious. You'd better not hurt her."

"You have nothing to worry about, Daryl."

"I mean it, Jill."

"I know. And I promise you, I'll never hurt her."

* * *

A loud knock reverberated through Rain's office and she called, "Come in!" without looking up.

"Hey."

At the sound of the familiar voice, the Latina's head snapped to attention. "Jill. Uh, what's up?" It had been about a week since she indirectly revealed her attraction to the blonde and the first time they'd spoken alone since then.

"I wanted to talk."

Rain put her pen down and gave Jill her undivided attention. "Just out of the blue?"

Jill smiled. "No, I've been thinking about it since the last time we talked."

"Oh. Well, say what you need to, then."

"I wanted to apologize."

Rain's eyebrows shot up. "You want to apologize? Can't say that was what I was expecting."

"When you said what you did, I just freaked a little bit." Jill hesitated slightly before continuing. "You see, when I was under Umbrella's control, I met another…you. A Model Fourteen."

Rain stayed silent, waiting for the blonde to continue.

"That Rain and I were...together, in a loose sense of the word. I treated her like shit and only used her when I wanted something. That device they put on me changed me in more ways than one. Not only did I not have control over my actions, but I sometimes didn't have control over my thoughts and feelings."

"But, somehow, I grew feelings for her. Maybe because I was still pining after Alice or something, I'm not sure. But I did, against all odds."

"What happened?"

Jill lowered her head. "They killed her," she whispered. "Isaacs found out, or maybe he just took a lucky guess. He said I couldn't have any distractions and he killed her right in front of me, to 'make sure I knew what awaited if I let it happen again.'"

Rain gave her a sad look. "I'm so sorry, Jill. Is that why you…?"

"Yes. Part of me thinks it isn't actually real, that what I feel for you is just some weird imprint left from my feelings for the other Rain. Another part of me thinks I don't deserve any of it because of what I've done, even if it technically wasn't my fault. And the last part is saying to just fuck it all and do what my heart tells me."

A spark of hope ignited in Rain's chest.

"While I'd love to just go with that last part, I don't know if I can," Jill continued.

The spark fizzled out.

"But, I'm willing to try. It'll just take me some time. Are you willing to wait?"

A grin started spreading over Rain's face, the spark in her chest given new life. "Of course; I'll wait for as long as you need."

Jill matched the grin with one of her own and walked to Rain's desk, leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Rain."

She went to leave the office, but Rain stopped her for a moment. "Wait, I need to know. What brought this on?"

Jill smirked. "You can thank Daryl for this one."

* * *

"Everything's too calm," Casey commented to her twin as they walked.

Alice nodded. "You know, you've got a point. It's been almost two weeks since Rain called that meeting, and Shane and Merle have done nothing out of the ordinary."

"I don't suppose it's because the universe has decided to be on our side for once?"

"I highly doubt it."

"Well, well, look who it is."

Casey and Alice halted in their footsteps as Merle approached them. "Hey, ladies, where you headed?"

"It's none of your damn business, Merle," Alice growled.

He smirked. "You'd better play nice, unless you want your bitch to take a sniper bullet through the eyes."

Alice's scowl deepened. "What are you talking about?"

Merle pointed. "Look up there."

Alice and Casey did so and spotted Shane perched on a rooftop, wearing a snow ghillie suit and aiming a sniper toward the ground. Alice followed the intended path the bullet would take and was horrified to see that it was aiming right at Claire, who was currently engaged in a conversation with K-Mart.

Alice turned back to Merle. "You'd better not," she snarled.

Merle grinned at her. "I believe I have the power here, not the other way around."

Casey shot a warning glare at Alice. "What do you want from her, Merle?"

Merle glanced at Casey. "Not just her, you too. And don't go gettin' any funny ideas; Shane can just as easily blow the little one's brains out. It'd be a shame 'cause I really wanted to fuck her senseless, but I suppose killin' her would be just as satisfying."

Alice had to throw a restraining arm across Casey's chest; the younger twin had murder in her eyes. She glared at Merle, the virus within threatening to cause her to lose all control. "What do you want from _us_, Merle?"

"Both of you are goin' to tell your bitches that you're goin' away on a raidin' trip for a few days. You can't tell them shit about what's really goin' on, otherwise Shane'll kill them both. We'll know if you tip 'em off in some way."

"How?"

"We had one of our friends bug them without their knowledge. We're not as stupid as you think."

"One of your friends? But the only one who has that kind of technical expertise is…" Casey gasped softly. "Mikey?"

Merle nodded. "We were as surprised as you were when he came to us. But, the boy is useful, so why not?"

"You…!"

Merle shook his finger. "No, no, no, remember what I said? You'd better play nice. I'm the one with the power now." He ushered them forward. "Now go do what I said, or I'll kill them both!"

The two women glared daggers at him but relented, slowly starting to walk toward the sisters.

Claire looked up when they approached. "Hey, you two, what's going on?"

Casey forced a smile on her face. "Oh, nothing. Alice and I are just here to inform you that we're leaving."

"What?" K-Mart cried. She grabbed Casey's arm. "Where on earth are you going?"

"Just a regular old raid, nothing to worry about."

Claire cocked an eyebrow and met Alice's eyes. "Alice, why do you two need to go on a raiding trip? We have everything we need here."

Alice shrugged. "We can never have too much," she lied.

Claire furrowed her brow and looked at the ground. _Something feels off, _she thought.

When she raised her eyes to meet Alice's again, Alice was gazing at her intently, trying to convey what she needed without saying it.

Claire understood and smiled innocently. "Well, if you say so, then it's fine. How long will you be gone?"

"A few days, at the most."

Claire nodded. "Alright. We'll see you in a few days, then."

She drew Alice in for a long kiss, her heart squeezing painfully at all of the emotion Alice was transferring through their connected lips. Whatever was going on, it had Alice worried and scared.

And that terrified her.

"Eww!" K-Mart exclaimed. "Keep the PDA to yourselves, would you?"

The rest of her complaint was cut off when Casey wrapped her arms around the teen tightly. "Whatever you do, please be safe, K."

K-Mart was stunned, but hugged Casey back anyway, resting her head on the taller woman's chest. "Me be safe? Aren't you the one who's going off on a raid?"

"Those aren't dangerous, not for me or Alice. We're…I'm not going to be here to protect you. Promise me, K."

K-Mart lifted her head and looked up into Casey's eyes. "Casey?"

Casey just stared sadly at K-Mart. "Just promise me, K."

K-Mart nodded, her eyes wide. "I promise."

Casey kept her in her arms for a few more moments before slowly letting her go. "See you later, K." Her voice cracked at the end.

"Case-," K-Mart started, but the older woman was already walking away, Alice at her side. K-Mart had the feeling that things were about to take a turn for the worse.

She hoped with every fiber of her being that she would be wrong.

* * *

"Welcome to your new home for the next few days," Merle announced when they walked into the Dixon house. "Well, your new home is technically underneath these one."

"What, like a dungeon?" Casey asked.

Merle wrinkled his nose. "What, is this the fuckin' Middle Ages or something? No, you dumb bitch, it isn't a dungeon. It's a basement."

"Don't call me that!" Casey snapped.

Merle leaned in close, their noses almost touching. "I can call you whatever the fuck I want. If I remember correctly, Shane still has a sniper aimed at your women." He lifted a walkie-talkie. "I say the word, and he pulls the trigger. Is that what you want?"

"No," Casey mumbled.

"Then don't fuckin' talk back to me!" He punctuated his words by striking Casey in the face with the gun he had trained on them. She swayed backward slightly and spat out a small glob of blood onto the floor.

"Say you're sorry," he spat.

She gave him the iciest glare she could muster. "I'm sorry," she ground out.

Merle grinned wickedly. "That's better. Now," he pointed at a door, "get your asses downstairs."

The two obliged, Alice viciously fighting the virus in her body when Merle shoved her forward, almost making her tumble down the stairs. Once they all reached the bottom, Merle clicked on a bare light bulb that cast a dull glow over the room.

The basement looked rundown and was covered in an impressive layer of dust; if Casey had to guess, no one had been down here in months.

"We don't normally come down here," Merle commented, seemingly reading Casey's thoughts. "But, Shane and I thought it would be a perfect place for you two to stay for a while. Now, Shane was a little worried 'cause you're both more than strong enough to break through the door or any of the walls, but I told him there was no chance in hell. Not if you wanted Claire and K-Mart to live. Am I right?"

Neither woman answered so he grew angry. "I asked you a question!" he yelled. "And when I ask a question, it better be fucking answered, do you understand me?"

"Yes, Merle," the two answered in unison.

"Good," Merle breathed. "That's much better. Now, make yourselves comfortable. If I recall, neither of you needs to eat for like a week, right?"

Alice nodded.

"That's perfect. You won't be down here longer than a few days, so you'll survive. There's a bathroom down here somewhere, but I won't be keepin' the light on, so good luck findin' it!" He went to leave, but stopped and turned back. "And just in case you two wanna try any of your mind powers, you should know that the talk button on this thing is always pressed. Shane knows that if he hears anythin' suspicious, he's to take the shot. So you're completely at my mercy!" He disappeared up the steps, laughing the whole time.

"What a dick," Casey muttered once he was out of earshot. "I'll be glad when he's out of our hair."

"How can you be so calm right now?"

Casey shrugged. "Jumping the handle won't get us anywhere any faster. Besides, I don't have a virus war raging inside me like you do. Naturally, you're far angrier about this then you normally would be. You just need to keep your cool."

"Don't you think I know that?" Alice snarled. In the darkness, Casey could see the older woman's right eye start to glow red.

"Alice, you're glowing again," she scolded.

The dirty blonde took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Just don't attack me, and we'll be good. Save all that anger for Merle and Shane, and whoever else they managed to convince."

"Oh, I will," Alice chuckled darkly and her eye began to glow again. "Nobody threatens us."

* * *

"Jill, we have a problem."

Jill looked up from the book she was reading. "What's up, Claire-Bear?"

"It's Alice, and Casey."

"What do you mean?"

"I think Shane and Merle just made their first move."

Jill jumped up from her chair. "Are they okay?"

"For now, yeah. They just told me and K-Mart that they're going on a raiding trip."

"A raiding trip? What the hell for, we have everything we need."

"That's exactly my point. I could see it in Alice's eyes, and K-Mart said that Casey had seemed sort of sad. I don't think they're actually going on a raiding trip."

"Do you think they're still in the town?"

"Yes, but I don't know where. I also don't know how those two managed to get Casey and Alice out of the way so easily."

"If I had to guess, I would say Merle and Shane threatened them somehow."

"Threatened them? Those two aren't afraid of anything."

Jill gave Claire a look. "Not them specifically. Even those two idiots know they can't harm Alice and Casey personally." She started pacing, staring at the floor. "No, I think they probably threatened you and K-Mart."

Claire's face hardened. "Oh, hell no."

"Think about it. You're the most important person to Alice, obviously, and Casey and K-Mart, well…"

"I know, I know," Claire interrupted quickly. "I just can't believe Alice and Casey would give up so easily."

"Love can be a powerful thing; a powerful weakness is one of those things."

Claire frowned. "Love?"

Jill rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Claire. Anyone can see that Alice loves you, and I know you love her. There are certain things you can't hide from your best friend. Casey and K-Mart are just friends for now, but you know as well as I do that won't last for much longer."

"Fine, fine. We'll discuss that another time. What can we do?"

"Well, if Shane and Merle threatened to kill you and K, I would also think you're not actually supposed to know about it. So for now, we do nothing. We pretend like nothing has changed, as per the original plan. You know Alice and Casey are probably thinking up some diabolical plan to escape and save everyone. They both have giant hero complexes."

"No argument there."

"But, at the same time…"

"What?"

"Well, if they're willing to surrender peacefully just to ensure that both of you live, I don't think they'd be willing to risk your safety on some harebrained scheme."

"Just get to the point, Jill!" Claire said impatiently.

"What I'm saying is that they probably won't do anything either. That's just what it's come to. I know it'll be hard for you to just sit idle for a few days and let everything play out, but that's what you're gonna have to do, okay?"

"You can't honestly expect me to just sit around?"

"I can, and I do. You have to, Claire. Unless you'd rather have them kill all of us?"

"Of course not!"

"Then you're gonna have to swallow your pride and hope that everything works out okay."

"I just feel so useless, like some dumb damsel in distress that can't protect herself!"

"You have more than just yourself to think about."

"I know, I know!" Claire rubbed her temple. "Fuck those two! Once everything plays out, there's no way in hell I'm letting them get away!"

"Don't worry, Claire. Everything will be fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not, not even a little bit."

* * *

"_Merle?"_

"What is it, Shane?"

"_We have a slight problem."_

"God damn it, what's wrong?" Merle cursed.

"_Claire knows. And so does Jill. And she'll probably tell all of them."_

"What? How the fuck did she find out?"

"_It seems like she just guessed."_

"Fuck her, fuck them all!"

"_What do we do, bro? We've barely started puttin' this plan into motion, and already shit's startin' to hit the fan!"_

"Relax, you big pussy! Everything will work out as it should. Just because they know doesn't mean they can do anythin' about it. Just keep that sniper on them, alright?"

"…_Alright."_

Merle placed the radio on the table he was sitting at. Standing, he picked up his chair and threw it against the wall in anger, the wood splintering easily. "God fucking damn it!" he screamed. "That fucking redheaded cunt!"

_Calm down, you fucking idiot! They can't do anythin'! You still have all the power…maybe you should send them a little reminder…_

Merle calmed himself down by taking deep breaths and smiled darkly. His inner voice was onto something. He walked to the door that led to the basement, but not before making sure to grab the radio from the table.

"Hey, ladies! I need you to do something for me."

Alice and Casey looked up at him from their sitting positions. "What do you want?" Alice snapped.

"Take off your clothes."

She scoffed at him. "Not in your wildest fucking dreams."

He scratched his stubble with the antenna of the walkie-talkie. "It's a shame you feel that way." He lifted the walkie-talkie to his mouth.

"Shane?"

"_Yeah?"_

"You still have them in your sights?"

"_No shit."_

Merle looked down at the twins, his dark smile growing wider. "Either take off the clothes, or they both die."

They both glared at him. "Why?"

"That's not the point. Take it off, down to your underwear!"

They did as ordered and he snatched up their clothes, pressing them to his nose and inhaling deeply. "You've got a fuckin' amazin' smell!"

"You're disgusting," Alice spat.

He glared at her. "Don't talk back to me, you bitch!" He punched her in the jaw, smirking when she lifted her head and he saw the blood staining her teeth.

"That the best you got?" she growled at him and his smirk dropped.

"You're walkin' a real fine line," he snarled. "Keep at it, and I'll tell Shane to take off an arm or a leg."

Her right eye started to glow again but she backed off. "That's what I thought." Picking up the clothes he'd dropped, he headed back up the stairs.

Once back in the kitchen, he went searching for a box and some paper and a pen.

* * *

"Claire?"

The redhead turned and smiled at the Australian. "Hey, Mikey. What's up?"

Mikey held out a box. "Merle asked me to give this to you. Said it was really important."

Her smile dropped and she took the box hesitantly. "Did he say anything else?"

"Nope."

"Okay, well, thank you, Mikey."

"Sure thing."

Mikey waited until Claire had turned her back on him and started walking toward her house before spitting on the ground where she had been standing moments before.

A few yards ahead, Claire found Jill and started dragging her toward the house she shared with Alice, sparing only enough time to shoot the older woman a meaningful look.

"So, what's in the box?" Jill asked once they were inside the house and the doors were locked.

"No idea, Mikey just said that Merle asked him to deliver it to me."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Claire nodded and took a sharp knife from the counter and began cutting the box open meticulously; she had not a clue what the contents of the box were and didn't want to risk being careless.

Once the box was opened, she and Jill pulled the contents out. Jill held up a tan duster and green camo pants. "Don't these look like…?"

"Alice and Casey's clothes," Claire finished.

"I still can't understand how they can wear what they always do in thirty degree weather, plus snow. But, that's beside the point. Why did Merle send us their clothes?"

"I have an idea, but I hope it isn't what I think."

Jill looked inside the box again and pointed. "Look, there's a note."

Claire picked it up and began to read:

_You know who this is._

_Congratulations, you guessed right. Alice and her clone didn't go on any raid. They're still in the town; in my basement, to be exact. I know you and your little friends have it all figured it out, but I felt that I needed to remind you who held the power here. That's why I sent you their clothes. If you guys try any funny business, I'll know about it. And now that there's barely any clothing keeping me out…well, you're smart. You know what I'm getting at._

_Do anything, and your little superpowered freaks will pay the price. You willing to take the risk?_

_Merle_

"That little bastard!" Jill exclaimed.

Claire crushed the note in her hands, shaking with anger. "I'm gonna kill him," she snarled. "I don't care what anyone says, I'll _obliterate _him!"

Jill nodded in agreement. "Do you think he'll make good on his threat?"

"I have no doubt of that. If he's crazy enough to kidnap Alice and Casey, he's crazy enough to try to rape them."

"So now, we don't really have a choice. We can't do anything."

Claire shook her head. "We'll just have to bide our time, wait for them to make their move."

Jill sighed heavily. "Fuck all this. Anyway, I'd better get back to it. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Just stay positive, Claire-Bear. It'll be okay."

"Here's hoping."

Jill gave her a sad smile and left the house. Claire sat at the table for another twenty minutes, several thoughts warring throughout her. She eventually decided to just take a walk to try to clear her head.

Barely a few steps away, she saw a red dot going haywire on the snow-covered ground. Looking around, no one else seemed to notice. She looked closer at the dot and realized what it was. She turned around to try and identify the source.

She finally figured it out once the figure on the roof stood up and waved their sniper rifle around.

* * *

**A/N: There you go. You're very welcome :D**

**-DeanneYunFarron**


	13. Heartbeats

**Author's Note: So, I'm back! You're welcome.**

**P.S. One thing I should address before continuing (also because I cannot remember if I replied to reviews for the last chapter or not XD ) quite a few of you homies were unhappy about Alice and Casey essentially allowing themselves to get caught. Let me clear the air: there were a very important couple of reasons for that. Firstly, they needed to be **_**absolutely **_**sure Claire/K-Mart/all them other peeps would not come to any harm at all. Both Alice and Casey can handle whatever Merle and Shane throw at them, yanno? Love is a powerful force and can cause people to do a whole spectrum of things. Secondly, in their eyes, this was the easiest way to stay updated on Merle and Shane's plans. The way I wrote Merle was as a very narcissistic guy who loves to brag (so not hella different from his actual character ;P ) so they knew he would be basically telling them all about his plan because he just can't resist. Maybe I should've done a better job of explaining that instead of trying to be all sneaky and only subtly hint at it. My bad! But, enough of that folly! Now, you shall read on!**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Heartbeats**

* * *

"Rain!" Claire burst into the Latina's office. Rain looked up in surprise, as did the blonde hovering over her shoulder.

"Good, you're here too, Jill."

"What's the problem, Claire?"

"Shane. He's positioned up on a rooftop outside with a sniper."

"Shit," Jill whistled. "That must be how they got Alice and Casey to give up so easily." She took her hand off the back of Rain's office chair and rose up to her full height, crossing her arms. "How did you figure out where Shane was?"

"He basically threw his location in my face," Claire answered.

Jill frowned. "So he wanted you to know…"

"That makes sense. They already know that we know, so they probably figure, 'Why the fuck not?'"

"Yeah, but I'll bet now they probably know that you know," Rain said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, that Mikey kid bugged you guys, right? They can probably hear every word we're saying right now."

"Shit, I forgot about that," Claire cursed. "What do we do now?"

"Jill and I decided that discretion is now longer necessary. Both parties know everything the other party was trying to hide, so now we're gonna go all in."

"What were you two working on when I came in?"

"We were trying to figure out which people were likeliest to betray us," Jill answered. "We based on a few different things."

"What'd you come up with?"

"Well, thankfully, the amount of likely people is pretty small. Most everyone has complete faith in both me and you, Claire, so Merle and Shane won't have an army or anything like that."

"That's good, then. It'll make our job a lot easier."

"Yes and no. While there will be less people to have to overcome, each person has a…specialty of some kind."

Claire cocked an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, we all know Mikey is a tech whiz. Another possibility, I think his name was Tristan? Trent? Well, he's a big guy. Like, _really _big. And it's all muscle." Jill peered down at the papers on Rain's desk. "Then, there's this one, Charlie. From what I can understand, she's a sharpshooter type. This chick can shoot an arrow between your eyes from fifty yards away. And there's also-."

Claire held up her hands. "I get it, thanks. You think they planned this?"

Rain shook her head. "They're capable of being smart, but not that smart." She rubbed her temples. "No, unfortunately, this is just our shitty luck working against us."

"Of course. We just can't ever catch a fucking break…"

The door banged open and Daryl rushed into the room, Carlos on his tail. Both faces were wild, Daryl's with anger and Carlos' with a slight hint of fear.

Rain jumped up out of her chair. "What it is?"

"It's them. They're making their move. You need to come quick," Daryl said shortly and he and Carlos turned on their heels and marched out, the women scrambling behind them.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm glad you could come out here today!" Merle announced atop his makeshift stage. "Warms my heart to know people are willin' to listen!"

K-Mart turned around worriedly when she felt Claire and the others approaching. "This is bad, Claire! I think they're planning on hurting Alice and Casey!"

Claire placed an arm around her younger sister's shoulder, squeezing gently. "It'll be alright, K. They'll be alright." She hoped she was at least convincing the teen with her words.

"And there she is right now!" Merle shouted and pointed directly at Claire. "The one responsible for all of this: Claire Redfield!"

"I fail to see how this is my fault, Merle!" Claire snarled.

"If you'd just stepped down like we wanted in the first place, your little girlfriend and her fuckin' clone wouldn't be in this mess!" He held out a hand toward the stairs. "Bring 'em up, brothers and sisters!"

Casey's head appeared first, followed shortly by Alice's. Claire was slightly relieved when she saw the similar relaxed, almost bored expressions on their faces. They were dressed only in their undergarments and were flanked by four others, Charlie, Trent, Mikey and another. Shane was not amongst them.

"And now, our guests of honor: Alice and Casey Abernathy!"

There was a slight murmur that ran through the crowd. Some murmurs were angry, others worried, and some happy.

"So, this was your plan, Merle? A public execution?" Claire asked.

"Of course! Just to show you, all of you, that these women are nothing special."

"Goddamn you, Merle," she muttered under her breath.

"Why you doing this, Merle?" someone shouted.

"I just fuckin' told you!" he yelled. "I don't need any other reason 'sides that!" Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his head and forced a smile. "Now, before I get started, does anyone else want to join us up here? Once I succeed in takin' down these super powered freaks, no one will stand in our way. We will have control of the colony!"

Silence followed his statement and he frowned. "No one has the balls to come up, eh? That's unfortunate!" He pulled out his pistol and started pointing it at random people, who screamed. "Oh, now you wanna make noise, huh?" He pointed the gun upward and pulled the trigger. "Huh?!"

"Enough, Merle," Alice said. "You got what you wanted. You don't need to scare them."

"Shut the fuck up!" he screamed. Swinging the pistol down, he caught Alice across the mouth. "Who the fuck you think you are, tryin' to tell me what to do?!"

Casey saw the telltale glow of Alice's eye and she quickly thought on her feet. "Just think about it, Merle. If you scare them now, they'll be more willing to rebel when you take control. Wouldn't you rather rule through respect, rather than fear?"

"Fear makes people respect you too."

"Sure, but people will hate you more for it."

He paused, scratching his chin with the pistol. "Hmm…you may be on to something."

Casey smiled and whispered to Alice. "You need to stay in control."

"Don't you think I'm trying?" she snapped back.

"Not hard enough."

"What are you two whisperin' over there?" Merle snarled. "Tryin' to come up with a plan to take us down, right?"

"No," Casey responded.

"Do I look fuckin' stupid?" When Casey smirked at him, he scowled. "Don't answer that!"

"I didn't."

"Are you tryin' to piss me off, you dumb bitch?!"

Casey's smirk grew. "I'd say you're pretty mad already, don't you think?"

Down on the ground, Jill whispered to Claire. "What the hell is she doing?"

Claire shrugged. "I don't know."

"She's brilliant," K-Mart cut in. "Can't you see what's happening?"

Both women shook their heads. "The angrier Merle gets, the more irrational he gets," K explained.

"Oh, I get it," Rain said. "She's working him into a frenzy. That way, he'll make a stupid mistake."

K-Mart nodded. "Yeah, and I think we can all agree that Merle is the stupid angry type."

Back up on the stage, Merle was seriously considering just putting a bullet into both of their heads and being done with it.

"_Merle?"_

"What, Shane?" he barked into the radio.

"_You need to calm the fuck down!"_

"Don't you be tryin' to tell me what to do, too!"

"_Don't you get it, you buffoon? This is their plan. You're stupid when you're angry, and they know that."_

He turned to glare at Casey, who smiled innocently at him. "Relax, Shane. I've got this."

"_Try not to fuck it up."_

"Fuck you." He pointed the pistol at Casey, who didn't even twitch. "I'm onto you, you little bitch. I know what your plan is."

She shrugged. "It's almost sad that your brother had to figure it out for you."

"You…god damn it, I'll fucking blow your brains out!" he screamed.

She smiled again. "So do it."

"Don't think I won't!"

"You won't."

"What the fuck makes you so sure?"

"If we die, you'll have nothing. No bargaining chip, no nothing. Claire and the others will go crazy and will probably die too. And then what? All that'll be left is a whole group of people that watched you perform a coup d'état. Everyone that is able to fight will have been killed and you'll be left with the weakest links. I highly doubt that's what you want, right?"

"You don't know it'll happen like that."

"But I do."

"And how the fuck would you know that?"

"Simple. It's the most logical outcome, based on the emotional patterns of all parties involved. You know as well as I do that Claire and them _will _go after you if Alice and I die. That much is guaranteed. You also know as well as I do that their people will be right behind them." She narrowed her eyes at Merle. "Are you willing to take that chance just to prove me wrong?"

"_Merle, she's baitin' you."_

"Fuck off, Shane, I told you I could handle this!"

"_Yeah? And I told you not to fuck it up, but here you are."_

"Shane, I'm about two seconds away from putting a bullet in your skull first."

"_Don't forget who has the sniper rifle, Merle."_

Merle just turned the radio off and threw it on the ground. "Fuckin' brothers, man."

"So, it seems we've reached an impasse."

"That's quite a big word for you, Merle."

"Fuck off. As I was saying, we've hit a standstill."

"There's an easy way to get out of this, Merle."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"Just give up," Alice suddenly snarled. "Put the gun down, call of your dogs, and get out of here."

He grinned. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Too long I haven't been in control of my own fate. I'm tired of followin' orders, I want to be the one givin' 'em!"

"Well, that ain't gonna fucking happen," Alice replied.

"That's a shame," he said. He slowly leveled the gun at Alice's head. "I guess I'll just kill you first, then."

"I'd like to see you try," she snapped.

"You don't really have a choice." He furrowed his brow. "Actually, you do. If you stop the bullet, Claire gets one in her skull instead."

"You wouldn't dare!"

He chuckled darkly. "I wouldn't, huh? I know Shane still has the sniper trained on her." Clicking the safety off, he placed his finger on the trigger. "You willin' to take that chance just to prove me wrong?"

"Fuck you," she snarled but her mind was racing. What could she do? Either she took a bullet in the head or Claire did. While she wasn't positive she could recover from a fatal injury, she also wasn't really willing to find out. And if she did die, what would that do to the others? To Claire?

"Seems you've finally realized I'm completely fuckin' serious." Merle's snarky voice coiled its way into her thoughts. "So, I hope you've made up your mind, 'cause I have."

Alice saw his finger begin pressing down on the trigger in slow motion. Before the bullet could leave the chamber, a small black object zoomed from the crowd and hit him in the hand. He screamed loudly and dropped the gun, cradling the bleeding appendage.

Looking closer, Casey was able to identify it as a crossbow bolt.

"Daryl," she whispered.

Merle glared daggers into the crowd, able to pinpoint his brother. "I told you not to fucking interfere!" He turned his gaze toward Shane's position. "Shane, take him out!"

Daryl faltered for an instant even though he knew Shane wouldn't do it. He looked toward Claire and the others, who just stood there, frozen. "What the fuck are you standin' around for? Get movin'!"

They jumped into action. All hell then decided to break loose.

Claire pushed K-Mart toward Carlos. "Get her outta here!"

"On it!" He took K-Mart by the arm and pulled her away, melting into the frantic crowd.

Claire turned her attention back toward the stage. "We need to get up there!" she cried.

On the stage, Alice and Claire were still unmoving. They knew that if they tried anything, Shane would pull the trigger. Merle was still stomping around, screaming obscenities to the heavens while futilely trying to stem the blood flow from his hand.

"Maybe you should take the bolt out first," Casey suggested.

"Fuck you!" he yelled.

"Well, shit, I'm just trying to help."

On the roof a hundred yards away, Shane was indecisive. He wanted to pull the trigger on Claire, but he knew that if that happened, Alice would lose all control.

If he pulled the trigger on Alice and Casey, Claire would come after them with a vengeance. She may not be super powered, but she was fucking insane when she was angry.

"Fuckin' Merle!" he cursed. "I told that dumb bastard not to go through with this!"

Back on the ground, Claire began her assault on the stage. Spotting a glint ahead of her, she ducked down quickly to narrowly avoid an arrow sent her way. She looked up to see Charlie grinning at her, another arrow already notched. "Come on, Claire! Let's see how your bullets compare to my arrows!"

"Damn it!"

Jill and Rain were currently taking on Trent. All parties were disarmed and were relying on hand-to-hand combat. The two women had years of training under their belt, but Trent had sheer mass. Their blows were landing but having little effect. Rain was bleeding profusely from a cut that had opened above her eye, courtesy of Trent landing a lucky punch.

Carlos had successfully disappeared and Claire only hoped that K-Mart was safe. She knew that Carlos would defend her with his life.

She was pulled from her thoughts when another arrow whizzed past her, opening a gash in her right arm.

She glared up at Charlie, who waved at her. "Don't lose focus, Claire Bear."

The redhead pulled the pistol from her waistband and leveled it at Charlie. "Try that again."

"Don't try to threaten me-!"

Claire pulled the trigger and Charlie dropped to the ground. "Fucking bitch," she muttered.

She turned around and saw that Jill and Rain were on their last leg against Trent. To their credit, so was Trent. She shook her head and leveled the pistol at Trent's head, squeezing the trigger. Bits of his brain matter painted their faces.

She shrugged at them. "Sorry. But we don't have time for this."

Rain nodded. "Let's go save the day."

Claire jumped up the steps. "Merle!"

The man turned to stare at a very angry Claire pointing a gun at him and an equally angry Jill and Rain behind her.

"Merle."

He turned the other way to find Daryl leveling his crossbow at him. "It's over, bro. Just give it up."

"Fuck you, fuck all of you!" He pointed an accusing finger at Daryl. "You're my brother! We were supposed to stick together no matter what!"

"Where the fuck were you when I was growin' up?" Daryl snarled. "Mom was dead and Dad was always drunk! I wasn't even a teenager yet but both you and Shane were always getting' into trouble. I was fuckin' alone! And you gonna say now that we were supposed to stick together?"

"It wasn't my fault, little bro! Dad was abusin' me!"

Daryl smiled humorlessly. "He abused me too. Didn't see me spendin' all my time in juvie."

"Daryl, I didn't know he was abusin' you too."

"Bullshit. You'd have to be a fuckin' idiot to think he'd only abuse one of us." Daryl's grip on the weapon tightened. "That doesn't matter anymore. It's over, Merle."

Merle smiled widely. "You really think these people trust you, accept you? They ain't your family, Daryl. I am. Shane is."

"They're the closest thing I have to family. Even my own brothers threatened to kill me if I got in the way."

"You shouldn't have taken that to heart, little bro."

"How the hell else was I supposed to take it, Merle?"

"Like a fuckin' man. You were always weak, little bro. A fuckin' rabbit amongst wolves." He turned his head toward the sky, sniffing the air. "It's about to rain."

Claire's eyes shifted up, seeing the storm clouds. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed. Three seconds later, the first raindrops began to fall.

Merle spread his arms and laughed. "It never fails, does it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"All the best, most climactic fights happen in the rain, don't you remember those movies?"

"This isn't a movie, Merle, this is reality," Jill snarled.

He smirked at her. "It should've been a movie." He lowered his arms, his mind made up. "Fuck this."

Letting out a yell, he ran toward Daryl, hands outstretched and reaching for his throat.

One second and one pulled trigger later, Merle Dixon lay dead on the stage, a bullet hole through his head.

Daryl's jaw dropped and he looked to Claire, who was holding a slightly smoking barrel.

She met his eyes, squinting from the heavy rain. "I'm sorry, Daryl. I wasn't going to take any more chances."

He sighed and nodded. "I know. I understand."

"So, this is all nice and dramatic, but do you think you could untie us now?" Casey asked sarcastically.

Claire chuckled. "Yeah, hold on a sec."

"Not so fast!"

From out of nowhere, Mikey hopped up the stairs and held a gun to Casey's head, his face twisted into an angry scowl. "You won't be untying anybody!"

"Mikey?! What the hell are you doing?"

Claire turned at the familiar voice. "K-Mart, what the hell are _you _doing?" She glared at Carlos, who shrugged apologetically.

The teen ignored the redhead and focused all of her attention on the Australian boy. "Mikey, you can't do this!"

"The fuck I can't!" he yelled. "I do what I want! I'm tired of just being the tech guy! Everyone ignores me unless I'm doing something for them!"

"That isn't true!" K-Mart argued. "You and I are friends, Mikey!"

"That isn't what I wanted, K! I wanted more!"

She blinked, stunned. "What?"

"I didn't wanna just be your friend, K! I like you! No, I _love _you! But, all you have eyes for is _her_!" To emphasize his point, he smacked the butt of his gun into Casey's jaw, who groaned and spat up a glob of blood.

"Stop it, Mikey!"

"Why should I? You'll never love me! What else is there?"

"There's a girl out there for you, Mikey. It's just not me," the teen said softly.

"I want it, I _need _it to be you." He clicked off the safety and pressed the gun into Casey's temple. "And if this is what I have to do…" He tensed his finger.

Daryl shot off a crossbow bolt that lodged into Mikey's neck. He sputtered and slowly keeled backward. "No!" K-Mart screamed. She rounded on Daryl. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"He was gonna kill her, K," Daryl explained.

"I could've talked him out of it!" she yelled. She sank to her knees and started to cry.

Daryl put the crossbow over his shoulder and approached Casey and Alice, untying them and dropping the rope. "There you go."

Casey rubbed her wrists. "Thanks, Daryl." Alice nodded at him.

Up on the roof, Shane scowled deeply. "Those motherfuckers!" he snarled to himself. "Fuck it!" He peered into the scope and took aim at Claire Redfield.

Back on the stage, the rest of the convoy was slowly coming back under control. Casey was trying to comfort K-Mart, the teen crying loudly into her shoulder. Claire was arguing with Carlos, Jill and Rain were talking quietly amongst themselves, Daryl was seeing to Merle's body and Alice was simply enjoying the rain.

It had been years since she'd felt the patter of raindrops against her skin.

She looked toward Claire and smiled softly; even when she was arguing, the redhead still managed to look beautiful.

Suddenly, she frowned, noticing the red dot wavering along her forehead. Claire was too furious to notice and the others were preoccupied. "Shane," she whispered.

Making a split second decision, she ran at the redhead. "Claire!"

The woman turned and smiled at Alice but the smile quickly dropped when she was tackled to the floor, a loud shot sounding and blood splattering her face.

"Alice, what the hell?"

"You…okay?" the blonde choked out. She rolled over and fell to the ground, her breathing labored.

Claire took one look at the bloody mess on Alice's chest and screamed. "NO!"

"Claire, what is it?" Jill was the first to get to them. "Oh my god! Alice!"

"Get me something to stop the bleeding! Now!" Claire yelled. Carlos quickly took off his jacket and handed it to Claire. She placed it over the bullet wound and pressed hard, Alice crying out.

"Come on, stay with me, Alice! Stay with me!" she cried forcefully. The woman of her dreams was not bleeding out in her arms right now, she couldn't be…

"Cl-Claire…" Alice said weakly.

"No, shut up, shut up! Save your strength, please!" She could feel tears spill over but didn't waste time wiping them away. "Just stay with me, Alice!"

She gently wiped away a dribble of blood that fell from Alice's lips, her heart speeding up when she registered how cold Alice's skin felt against her fingers. "Alice…please don't leave me," she whispered.

Alice's breath was becoming more and more labored, small wet noises permeating the ringing Claire heard in her ears. She gripped Claire's hand and the redhead squeezed it for all she was worth. Alice returned the gesture weakly.

Alice swallowed slowly and Claire's heart broke when she saw the pain clouding the blonde's normally vibrant green eyes. The orbs were dulled and growing duller still. "I…I…"

Claire placed a finger over Alice's lips, a small sob escaping her own at the sheer icy feeling. She had no idea the human body could grow so cold so quickly. "Don't talk, Alice. Save your strength. You'll pull through, I'm not gonna lose you!"

Alice smiled softly. "Why…so…worried?"

Claire held her close, allowing her cries to grow in volume. "Because…because I love you," she sobbed.

Alice grinned weakly. "I…love you…too," Alice breathed out. She made another attempt to regain the lost air, her breath hitching. The dark haze settling in on her vision was growing exponentially and the pain in her chest was slowly becoming lesser.

All the air rushed from her body in one painful sigh, not to be reclaimed.

The green eyes turned to the sky, no longer able to admire the beautiful raindrops that were a gift from the clouds.

Claire felt the body go limp in her arms.

Two hearts stopped beating in that moment.

* * *

**A/N: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I KILLED HER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *notices a not-dead Alice staring daggers at her* heheheheh, uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go. *runs away screaming bloody murder***

**-DeanneYunFarron**


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